Reebok To Pay Refunds For Toning Shoes...

...under settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.  Here's the key part:

"...In ads that began in 2009, Reebok said walking in the shoes had been proven to provide 28% more strength and tone in the buttock muscles compared with regular walking shoes, 11% more in the hamstring muscles and 11% more in the calf muscles, the FTC said.

"The FTC investigation's found Reebok was unable to back up those claims, Vladeck said.

"'Advertisers cannot make claims about their products … without having some basis for it,' he said. 'If you’re going to make specific claims, particularly about health benefits, about your product you better have some kind of adequate substantiation about those claims before you make them.'

"Reebok said the settlement did not mean it was abandoning the shoes..."

They won't, but you should, and you should abandon any other product that makes claims it can't support.  I wonder if the running shoe industry is next.



Toning Shoes

 These are my "toning shoes", right after a workout:

Reebok Founder Invests in Newton Shoes

Congratulations:

"Reebok International founder Paul Fireman is jumping back into the running-shoe business, with an investment of close to $20 million in a Colorado sneaker maker that aims to capitalize on the industry’s biggest innovation in decades: shoes that mimic barefoot running.

"If Fireman has been looking for his next act, perhaps he has found it in Newton Running Co., a Boulder start-up that specializes in $175 sneakers built to emulate a shoeless stride — yet with enough cushioning to protect skin and joints from the realities of pavement pounding. He and his Fireman Capital Partners will take a roughly 30 percent stake in Newton.

"'I never thought I’d be involved in anything to do with an athletic or shoe company again,' said Fireman, 67, who five years ago sold Reebok to Adidas-Salomon for $3.8 billion and personally reaped $800 million. 'But this one intrigued me.'...

"...'In my view, this is probably the largest single revolution in running footwear since the Nike air bag,' said John Fisher, the former chief executive of shoemaker Saucony Inc. who now teaches marketing at Babson College. 'The idea of minimalism will continue to grow in geometric leaps and bounds.'

"Fisher said it has been decades since anything truly new has emerged in the running shoe business, and that Fireman could well be seizing on a large opportunity, 'where you put one and one together and you don’t get two — you get nine.'"

Good insight. Obviously some folks from the sneaker business understand what's going on.

P.S. John Fisher makes a cool statement above, but he's mistaken.  This is the largest revolution in running footwear since the sneaker.

Reebok Launches a Nike Free Knock-Off

Just like your bare feet!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you know...

"Run, jump, stretch, it’s time to move naturally again…"

Again? That implies that we stopped moving naturally... Along around the time we all started wearing sneakers instead of going barefoot, I suppose...

"...'Barefoot or natural running makes a lot of sense from a biomechanics standpoint because all the shock absorption happens in your muscles, not your joints,' said Reebok’s Head of Advanced Innovation, Bill McInnis. 'The problem is that natural running works best in the natural world, not on man-made surfaces. In creating RealFlex technology, we took everything that works with natural running and made it work in today’s world. Simply put, RealFlex is natural movement perfected.'..."

Wow, not just "innovation", but "advanced innovation"! More marketing BS, but welcome to the party, guys.

"...RealFlex features 76 independent sensors on the bottom of the shoe strategically positioned to twist, bend, expand, and support to help athletes’ feet move naturally. The sensors work together throughout the athlete’s stride to help provide all the benefits of barefoot running, while helping to eliminate all the negatives that come with running on hard surfaces. The result -- the natural movement your foot biomechanically needs, with the protection to keep the foot safe from everyday elements.

"When your foot moves naturally, it doesn’t just flex in the forefoot, it flexes throughout the entire foot. Each sensor provides a specific purpose underfoot. For example, the sensors in the heel are joined together to provide optimum heel impact absorption while running downhill. On the lateral side of the shoe, the sensors work together to offer stability. Up in the forefoot, the sensors are linked together to provide impact protection...."

Oh my goodness, the marketing BS needle just hit the red zone!  Too funny.

It's progress, I just wish it wasn't so painful to watch.

They've conceded the legitimacy of the barefoot argument, now they just need a product to sell.  This thing is a bit of a mess, IMHO, but it's a start.

Here's Birthday Shoes on the RealFlex, with better pictures (as usual).

P.S. PR finds the true horror of the RealFlex.  Video at the link.  Although it does make me think that those cleats; sorry, sensors; sorry, little pink buddies, might be decent for mud.