In your face, Reebok!

All day, I’ve been hearing echoes of The Simpsons character Nelson’s catchphrase in my head: HA-ha!

HA-ha! (Image via Wikipedia)

The reason why is because shortly before I went to bed last night, I read the most delicious news story I’ve encountered in ages: Reebok will pay US$25 million to settle false advertising claims for it’s Easy Tone brand of shoes. Why does this make me happy? You can read about my issues with Reebok advertising on my sister blog.

This is a small, but important step towards creating an advertising climate that doesn’t thrive on the plummeting self-esteem of girls and women. And it is also a warning to companies who think they have carte blanche to make outrageous and unsubstantiated claims about their “miracle” products to unsuspecting consumers. That is the moral equivalent of grifting and it makes the advertisers in question con artists, albeit con artists with articles of incorporation.

Well the FTC caught on to Reebok’s scam and while Reebok claims no wrongdoing in this instance (I’d like some of what those people are smoking!), the company nevertheless agreed to pony up a double-digit million settlement to put the matter behind them.

More where this came from, please!

My hope is that the FTC will not need to take advertisers like Reebok to task in the future. It’s a small victory that in this case, consumers will be able to get money back that they wasted buying those crappy shoes. However, damage has been done in other ways – to girls and women who have bought into the message that they should strive to look just like the model in the Easy Tone ads. And that simply putting on a pair of shoes can land them their dream body – whatever that is.

It’s only when we as consumers decide to vote with our wallets and refuse to buy from companies that subject us to deceptive marketing practices, that we will see real change.

Until then, I’ll relish the thought of Reebok executives stewing in their own juices over this ruling.

Here’s a bit of advice for them, in the words of my new hero, David Vladeck of the FTC:

VLADECK: So if you`re an advertiser out there, remember that marketing campaigns, no matter how clever, sexy or funny, must start and must stick with product claims that are substantiated. Advertisers must have substantiation for claims before they make them.

http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/onair/transcripts/ftc_orders_reebok_to_pay_customers_110928/

Related articles

• Reebok’s Butt In A Sling (adpulp.com)
• FTC Calls Butt-Shaping Shoes Bogus | News – Advertising Age (thesmileystone.wordpress.com)
• Reebok to Refund Customers $25 Million Over Toning Shoes Complaint (newsfeed.time.com)