HealthSmart '08 Dumb Bunny Awards

We trawled through the advice, remedies and tonics of the past year and made a list of the items that live up to the hype, plus the people who inspired us to be the best we can be. There were also some notions and potions that were downright wacky, and these garnered one of our less coveted but very deserving Dumb Bunny Awards.

From HealthSmart Magazine

Sick Pack
you know plastic surgery has gone too far when they start sculpting make-believe muscle out of fat. Abdominal etching, a liposuction technique that carves a tubby tummy into a would-be washboard, is an American innovation that is both painful and expensive. And as the procedure is more a guy than a girl thing, and as men are typically reluctant to go under the knife, it comes as no surprise that it isn’t popular, either, according to Dr Aldo Benjamin Guerra, an Arizona plastic surgeon who performs the operation. Of course, the possibility of post-operative fluid build-up, infection, bleeding, scarring and repeat operations to get it right may also be a tad off-putting.

G-string sanitary pads
OK, it has to be said: G-string sanitary pads are a daft idea. We’re still not sure that a little hanky on a bit of string constitutes practical underwear, but have come to accept that many women love G-strings nevertheless. It doesn’t follow, however, that these are items one would wish to wear 365 days a year. There are times when being practical is a priority and, on those days, dressing should come with no strings attached.

Viagra oysters
What do you get when you add Viagra to an oyster? A potential bestseller, according to marketing director George May. If you’re Pfizer, manufacturer of Viagra, you get a lawyer. May says he began putting crushed Viagra on his oysters after surgery for prostate cancer in a bid to boost his ardour, and claimed his experiment was a success. He then approached a couple of NSW oyster farmers and produced Viagra Oysters by dissolving the drug in oyster tanks. Not surprisingly, Pfizer called the legal eagles. But May is undeterred; he thinks his new aphrodisiac will make millions in Asia – which is lucky, because it’s unlikely his saucy molluscs will ever be approved for sale in Australia.

The corporate nod pod
It looks like a sofa that’s been swallowed by a man-eating mushroom, costs $17,000 a year to hire, and allows you a quick snooze on the job – or that’s what MetroNaps claims about its latest corporate gadget, the EnergyPod. We know that power naps can be beneficial to concentration and energy levels, and recognise that there isn’t a working person alive who hasn’t yearned for a catnap while on the job, but are we ready to take turns in a napping module while our colleagues work around us? With sales of the corporate kip machine proving unimpressive, it seems the answer is no. Our advice? Keep napping in the time-honoured way – find a bed, comfy chair or a dark cinema theatre.

Click here for Health Smart Awards ’08 winners