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Jewish World Review Oct 7, 2011 / 9 Tishrei, 5772 Toning shoe takes a misstep By Lori Borgman
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | I feel badly about the whole Reebok toning shoe mess. It was the athletic shoe for women that promised to strengthen calves and hamstrings up to 11 percent and tone buttocks by 28 percent more than regular shoes. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has fined Reebok $25 million for “unsupported claims.” I thought the “unsupported” part was clever on behalf of the FTC, which I had previously envisioned as droll sorts, rolling about on their desk chairs all day, certainly never engaging in word play. In any case, the unsupported claim was that you could firm what sagged by merely changing shoes. It was a stretch and yet so many wanted to believe it. It’s become the American way, really – wanting something for nothing -- toning without sweating, weight loss without dieting and savings accounts without saving. I wanted to believe in the toning shoe the same way I want to believe there might one day be a chocolate that makes you thin, alcohol that makes you sober and cigarettes that are good for your lungs. To their credit, the commercials made it very believable. She was a lovely young thing, the camera highlighting her tiny bum barely covered by her tiny shorts. No fat, all muscle, the picture of health, vim and vigor. And all because she changed shoes. Why yes, maybe if I buy those shoes I’ll look like that, too. Maybe I’ll even be 20 again, have long flowing hair, eat fries, double cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes yet have a willowy build and do back walkovers. Of course, I never completely bought into the toning shoes. The shoes were too much like the Facelift in a Jar. You hope it’s true. You desperately want it to be true, but the $29.95 price tag tells the rational side of your brain that it’s not true. In any case, the toning shoe misstep has not been a total loss. The unsupported claims of the toning shoes are working out exceptionally well for personal injury attorneys. The Internet now teems with sites dedicated to helping women recover damages if they have been injured by toning shoes. It is not as if the shoes mysteriously beat owners about the head in the night, forced them to turn down the wrong street or jump high hurdles when they weren’t conditioned. They are looking for injuries where the shoes may have caused someone to teeter, lose their balance and incur injured ankles, stress fractures or worse. Ever so thoughtful, if you’re not sure as to how you might have been injured, the websites offer a list of possibilities to get you thinking. Even for those, and I quote, “who are completely healthy and able, it may be possible that a change in your walk could become permanent and affect your ability to wear normal shoes.” It’s really not a full day unless the healthy and able-bodied are filing lawsuits, is it? The personal injury firms have even been considerate enough to set up toning shoe injury hotlines. Let’s hope the women can walk to the phone.
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JWR contributor Lori Borgman is the author of , most recently, "Catching Christmas" (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) and I Was a Better Mother Before I Had Kids To comment, please click here. To visit her website click here.
© 2009, Lori Borgman
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Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||||
