‘The Goop Lab’ treats fake science like the real thing
When firms use scientific language, it makes their products seem more legit
On Jan. 24, Goop, actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle company long criticized for peddling pseudoscience, launched its Netflix documentary series, “The Goop Lab.”
The six-part series covers subjects such as “energy healing,” exorcisms and cold therapy. In the show, various Goop employees — a young and diverse crowd — try health fads like vampire facials, in which the client’s own blood is drawn and applied to the face, supposedly to promote cell renewal. Another thing they try is the Wim Hof method, which involves jumping into an icy lake after meditation and breathing exercises.
But after settling a $145,000 (U.S.) lawsuit in 2018 over unscientific claims of what its jade egg can do, like correct hormonal imbalances and regulate periods, Goop’s new show includes a disclaimer with every episode:
“The following is designed to entertain and inform —not provide medical advice.”
Goop employees are careful to say that when something works for them, it could very well not work for someone else.
Even though some of the content featured in “The Goop Lab” comes across as harmless, sometimes even educational, experts are cautious about the show’s approach to wellness, especially when it promotes “natural” practices — like exorcism-like energy healing — alongside scientifically tested methods, like the use of psychedelics such as mushrooms in treating PTSD, anxiety and depression.
“Something ‘The Goop Lab’ does is sprinkle in a bit of science by talking about some interesting, real research going on,” said Tim Caulfield, the research director of the University of Alberta’s Health Law Institute and author of “Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?: When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash.”
“That makes everything that follows seem more legitimate. I call that science-ploitation, using real science to sell pseudoscience,” he said.
Caulfield said that research shows when companies use scientific-sounding language to sell their products, it makes their products seem more legitimate to consumers.
He pointed to the cosmetics industry, where brands throw around scientific phrases like “stem cells” and “cannabinoids.”
“The one bit of good news is when you start talking about science to justify what you’re presenting, we, the research community, find it entirely appropriate to critique it against the standards of science,” Caulfield said.
Caulfield, who hosted a 2017 Netflix series called “A User’s Guide to Cheating Death” that examined controversial procedures, diets and therapies to extend people’s lives, said that it was “disappointing” to see the streaming platform feed into the problem of scientific misinformation.