SKECHERS: The shoe company released a line of sneaker wedges that angers parents.
By Joann Lee, Staff Writer
In late February, Skechers shocked the general public after releasing a line of sneaker wedges with the name “Daddy’$ Money.” Using the tagline, “Get spoiled with Daddy’$ Money, ultra-cool shoes that will put you in the spotlight,” the shoes gained popularity from their name, resulting in boosted sales for the simple reason that the name was controversial.
Skechers faced much criticism from parents in particular. Multiple mothers complained that the commercial for Daddy’$ Money was more offensive than the name itself, featuring a few pre-teens dancing as the different styles of shoes are shown. The commercial is styled in parallel to a Saturday Night Live mock-commercial, with the exception that the ridiculous marketing efforts are genuine. The advertisement is complete with melodramatic, middle-school-aged children posing for the camera and a poorly-written jingle (“I’m a Daddy’s girl. I’ve got swag, baby, swag! Daddy’$ Money, yeah!”). The ‘Mommy Bloggers’ cast their votes, calling the commercial sexist.
“In this day and age, a lot of mommies are footing half the bills if not all the bills,” one blogger commented. Another complaint from the ‘Mommy Blogs’ was that the commercial led its target audience (teenagers and pre-teens) to believe “that they can use their feminine wiles to get what they want, even from their own fathers.”
Despite the uproar, Skechers isn’t too concerned with these accusations, telling ABC News, “The Daddy’$ Money name and the collection’s advertising are designed to be fun and light-hearted. We regret that some people have been offended by the name.”
It is a possibility that Skechers is using the shoe’s name as an advertising strategy and, if that’s so, the plan has worked. Despite many ‘mommies’ and ‘daddies’ claiming they’d never purchase the shoes, the Daddy’$ Money shoes are growing in popularity, with advertisements appearing in teenage fashion magazines such as Teen Vogue and Seventeen magazine. Other stores like Zappos.com, a popular online shopping website, also sell the shoes due to the high interest in the sneaker wedges.
Daddy’$ Money isn’t Skechers’s first advertising controversy. Last year, the company made unfounded claims that its latest toning shoe could help someone lose weight without ever doing a workout. As a result, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) forced Skechers to pay a total of $40 million in a settlement with U.S. regulators.
Swag, baby, swag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ZardFmCPI
Courtesy of i.dailymail.co.uk