At one point, the toning shoe was a fad that you could not get away from. It was a basic sneaker with an odd-shaped sole that was supposedly designed to help the wearer burn more calories and tone up while doing essentially nothing to add to their fitness level. As it turns out, just walking around is what tones, not special toning shoes, and the Federal Trade Commission has been hitting companies hard over false advertising claims concerning their shoes. Sketchers USA will be paying $40 million in refunds to customers over the Sketchers Shape-Ups; Reebok paid $25 million to settle FTC complaints about their Reebok Easy Tone shoes earlier in the year.
“The FTC’s message, for Skechers and other national advertisers, is to shape up your substantiation or tone down your claims,” said the punderful David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau. “The only thing that got a workout was their wallet,” he added.
That’s the thing; people actually bought in that a rocker bottom added to shoes would suddenly transform your average rancid pair of sneakers into some kind of portable fitness machine. Unless they’re made of lead, shoes are pretty much shoes and generally won’t make you fit (though they will make getting fit easier if they’re stable, supportive, etc.).
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