Strung

Parrotheads, beware: The guitar strings in these beaded bracelets may be harder to find than that lost shaker of salt.

That’s because despite being advertised on Meta platforms as “handcrafted from real guitar strings,” none of the pictured beaded bracelets in online seller Strung’s Margaritaville collection are actually made with guitar strings.

Rather, they are made from “stretch cord,” a plastic or rubber material commonly used for beaded bracelets, and only incorporate the “ball ends” that serve to anchor the guitar strings to the instrument, according to the featured bracelets’ product pages. For example:

After receiving a tip from a consumer, we found that, despite ads featuring beaded bracelets, only the unbeaded bracelets that are part of the company’s Margaritaville collection, like this one, are made with guitar strings.

In response to a request for comment, Strung said information regarding which bracelets in its Margaritaville collection are “guitar string bracelets made from actual guitar strings” and which incorporate “guitar string components” can be found on its website directly linked in the ads. The company, however, did not answer why it is advertising beaded bracelets as made from real guitar strings.

The bottom line

Before you waste away again in Deceptive-Ad-ville, make sure to read all the relevant information about a product (including, when applicable, details on product pages) so that you know exactly what you’re paying for.

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