Is anyone else annoyed by Tom's shoes? - Page 5

Thanks for the great read mate

also not a fan. Trendy, hippie bullshit.

These Tom's are the new Crocs. They are per se not necessary horrible... if you paid $ 3. 00 for them...

The guy went to Argentina (I happen to be from Argentina) and noticed some shoes (espadrilles) called alpargatas (they come in jute or rubber sole) and just copy them, he even put the Argentina flag in the back/heel of the shoe. This "shoes" cost about $ 3-5 (this accounting for the sellers earnings) in Argentina and of course is what abject poor people used to wear, over the last 20-30 years have slowly moved in to the middle classes as leisure shoes. There is no way in hell they cost $ 45-70 which is what you pay retail in any mall in the US. The fact that he says that he donates a pair of shoes for each one sold here is a joke. If he is also getting a tax cut is even sickening. Nonetheless he is a marketing genius.

just my $ 0.02...

I guess I'm conflicted about this. I think Tom's shoes are ass ugly. But I'm also wary of knee-jerk cynical reactions against the attempt to do some good (especially when the attacks are on aesthetic grounds). On the other hand, there's plenty of reason to be wary about benevolent/charitable consumerism as a marketing ploy.

Slavoj Zizek has a characteristically entertaining little lecture that's relevant:

Well, fortunately the market has expanded and we can now buy Bobs by Skechers in protest. It could be the most blatant, hilarious ripoff I have ever seen. Those kids sure are going to get a hell of a lot of shoes. What happens to the discards? Is there a huge landfill somewhere with a mountain of ugly discarded shoes?

Though I'm not a Malthusian I recognize that resources are finite. And they shouldn't be wasted.

I suspect the irony of fall-apart, resource-depleting shoes is lost on its tree-hugging maker.

Anyway, I've traveled and lived in many third-world countries and flip flops suffice. For me, too. You can pick up new ones for a buck or two.

I had one girl tell me she liked them because they were "casual".

I never heard that and have no idea.

Sketcher's Bobs are such a blatant rip-off that I kind of admire them for it. Their PR is pretty much bullet-proof since it's going to charity anyway.

And they even admit it

Per their website;
Inspired by the South American alpargata shoe and the idea of gifting a pair with a purchase we created the BOBS collection to help children worldwide. It isn't a new idea, but it's a great idea-and we are happy to be part of a charity movement that has the potential to impact so many.


LOL

If people want to help chlidren by buying TOMS then let them. Everybody wants a little recognition for their good deeds (even if it is self serving).

Well they can't come out and say "Hey we're going to sell you some shit shoes that are going to cost you alot more than what it costs to make them but it's OK because we're giong to give a free pair, that's right you heard right free pair, to children who really need them."
Like any other company, they're in it for the money and the day it becomes expensive to give a free pair of shoes to needy kids, i gurantee you they will stop.

shameless promoter.

he probably doesn't even wear TOMS.


FWIW I bought a pair of TOMS for a friend of mine as a Christmas present last year. I knew I was paying way too much but I didn’t really care because she really wanted them. She got a pair of shoes, a kid in South America got a pair of shoes, and I got the joy of giving. Everybody wins! Yay!

Correction.  Toms shoes look a lot worse than a pair of $3 shoes from China Town.  The things look ugly as sin.

nothing like a necropost to kick off the festivities... welcome to SF.