Going shoeless

Toms Shoes

Toms Shoes

Sometimes the bad economic news seems so acute that we forget how good we have it. One company is trying to increase awareness of world poverty … by going barefoot.

A charity publicity stunt by do-gooder shoe company, Toms, is asking people to go shoeless for the day. The business model behind Toms shoes (you know the ones, the espadrille-like cloth slippers that come in all sorts of patterns and colors), is that when you buy a pair here, they send a pair to a needy child in the developing world. The idea behind One Day Without Shoes is to “experience a life without shoes first-hand.”

In a blog entry on the Huffington Post, Toms founder Blake Mycoskie wrote:

I think sometimes we forget what we have, and occasionally it’s important to remind ourselves. Most people don’t even realize how many children in developing countries grow up barefoot and all the risks, infections and diseases they endure.

On the other side of the spectrum, someone who is making money off of shoes is Tiger Woods. As humorist Brian Unger noted for NPR. A new ad for Nike rubbed Unger the wrong way after Woods’ recent scandals:

His austere Nike ad isn’t controversial; it’s kind of pathetic and dark: the ghostly voice of your departed dad, your ambiguous stare asking me for, what, forgiveness? Hey, I’m not your Moses. I need coffee.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>