ACTION REQUEST: BOYCOTT SKECHERS! The SOPA of SHOES – TOMS vs BOBS – Skechers Social Media Takedown

social media takedown: Drop BOBS

Can Skechers ripoff social media darlings TOMS and get away with it? Let’s take this to the streets.

BOBS vs TOMS < the SOPA of SHOES. (initial Sopa of Shoes post from UBER.LA)

Here’s TOMS facebook page.

Screen Shot 2012 04 10 at 5.30.33 AM Social + Media: Two Simple Words Combined (and the Skechers Social Media Showdown)Again, we may be comparing pills to pumps, but the stark differences in the approach to media sharing and conversations is also quite revealing. Let’s do one more REAL TIME example and see what comes up.

HERE IS SKECHERS FACEBOOK PAGE.

Screen Shot 2012 04 10 at 5.42.34 AM Social + Media: Two Simple Words Combined (and the Skechers Social Media Showdown)

Okay, everything there looks good. Now here’s where the REAL TIME experiment comes in.

Skechers has started a COMPLETE KNOCKOFF of TOMS called BOBS.

Screen Shot 2012 04 10 at 5.46.26 AM Social + Media: Two Simple Words Combined (and the Skechers Social Media Showdown)

Okay, see the similarity with TOMS? Nice to read their quote below the aspirational video, “Inspired by the South American alpargata shoe and the idea of gifting a pair with a purchase…” To be honest they would’ve had to have said something more along the lines of, “You know TOMS is kicking ass, so we’re introducing a clone idea just different enough to avoid a lawsuit.”

Okay fine, so how will Skechers deal with my BOBS knockoff comment on their facebook wall? Will I be deleted, moderated, or answered. And how long will it take. Will they find this post and comment? Will they ask me to take it down? Will Pfizer show up and ask me to remove their copyrighted images? It’s all open in social media. So let’s see what happens.

It is almost 6am CDT (central daylight time). And here’s my post for Skechers wall:

How can your company so blatantly copy TOMS with your BOBS campaign? Do you think the public is going to LOVE your ripoff marketing campaign? Can you brush off the criticism with this kind of response, on your BOBS page, “It isn’t a new idea, but it’s a great idea…”? You should be ashamed of your blatant knockoff of a beloved national brand. In the name of selling shoes you have sunk to a new low. Sure, you’re now going to do good by copying TOMS? Perhaps your statement should’ve been, “Inspired by TOMS and the idea of gifting a pair with a purchase…”

Screen Shot 2012 04 10 at 5.58.41 AM Social + Media: Two Simple Words Combined (and the Skechers Social Media Showdown)

Let’s see how this goes. I’ll post this and keep you updated with any results.

Interesting to find this post on the “From Others” page:

Screen Shot 2012 04 10 at 6.23.02 AM Social + Media: Two Simple Words Combined (and the Skechers Social Media Showdown)

Still no answer to Karen’s question from yesterday. Hmmm? Okay, so let’s try one more thing. If you read this post and want to contribute to the experiment, please visit Skechers facebook page and post your own TOMS v BOBS question. And go LIKE all the other posts by people asking the same question. We can create a cascade of comments that they will have to respond to. This could be the SOPA of SHOES. (I’m pretty sure that’s gonna require it’s own post. So far I’ve liked 15 TOMS vs BOBS post. Facebook told me to “slow down” in my use of that feature or be blocked from using the app.)

So let’s set our screengrab on another site instead. Here’s my post on the TOMS page regarding this issue.

Screen Shot 2012 04 10 at 6.18.10 AM Social + Media: Two Simple Words Combined (and the Skechers Social Media Showdown)

Let’s see how this works out, shall we? (Updates to come.)

UPDATE: TOMS has a BOBS Response page:

If you have seen the Skechers TV commercial for “BOBS” and wondered what the heck it was all about, you’re not alone.  We about fell out of our chairs when we heard the voiceover state, “Skechers is proud to join companies like TOMS,” as they show young women dancing through a forest in what appear to be replicas of our shoe designs.  Maybe “join companies like TOMS”  should have read “imitate shoes like TOMS?”   We’re not quite sure.

We Can Change This!

@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://www.meterthis.net/sopa-of-shoes/

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  • Lmcgann

    I will NOT buy skechers because of the blantant miss-use of a great cause!  They lost a good customers. I will be spending my money elsewhere.  Keep up the good work “TOMS”

  • Jenny Goat

    In theory, TOMS sounds like a great idea.  Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that TOMS is nothing but a for-profit organization masquerading as a charity in order to make money.  TOMS drops shoes in areas where there are plenty of shoes to go around and not only floods the local markets with their even cheaper imitations of their $50ish dollar slip-on, but they hurt local economies and artisans by importing goods and subsequently do more harm than good.  It’s unfortunate but true.  There are plenty of other small businesses that are directly owned and operated by villagers in third world countries that would be a better use of dollars spent altruistically.

  • http://uber.la jmacofearth

    Jenny Goat. Do you have any links or info to back up what you say? I’d love to see them.

  • moo cow

    The shoes can’t be more than $5-10 to make. So does that justify them being $54+? Sorry, but I’d rather donate money directly to a charity rather than feed off some marketing ploy big companies try to get sheeple to lap up. Unless spending the extra cash to say you have a legitimate product compared to all those other lesser cheap jerks makes you sleep better at night.

  • Fukuburger

    All shoes cost just under $10 to manufacture. For $50+ you’re paying for 2 shoes and the fee it takes to ship it to the kid in need. Yes these guys can sleep at night knowing they are building a company with a great cause. How do you sleep knowing a pair of shoes you own was probably made by a child somewhere, being paid close to nothing?

  • joyeliya

    The second that people start worrying about “Who’s copying who” or whether they’re “Original or not”, those people have already forgotten the purpose of the shoes in the first place. So what, if a big corporation is a copy cat? At least they’re helping people in the process. Anyone that cares who created the shoes first, cares more about the trend than the charity… ridiculous.