DISCUSSION

Can Good Actions Be Bad?

October 22, 2010Written by Tom Ryan

For the last several weeks, scores of fashion and footwear blogs have criticized Skechers for blatantly copying another shoe company's business model. The twist: the company is TOMS Shoes, which has gained widespread media attention for its pledge to donate a pair of shoes to a child in need for each pair it sells.

Skechers' line, Bobs, is similar in name and also the same traditional Argentine 'alpargata' style as TOMS. One-upping TOMS, Skechers is donating two pairs of shoes to needy children through the charity, Soles4Souls, for each pair of $42 Bobs it sells.

In a statement released to the Los Angeles Times, Jennifer Clay, Skechers' vice president of corporate communications, stated, "We saw what TOMS is doing and believe their charitable efforts and program are inspirational. We applaud their efforts and believe with our distribution and network we can reach even more children around the world."

The statement added: "Skechers is proud of its design, and we don't think there should be any issue with being inspired, as many other companies have been, by a design that is seven centuries old and still popular throughout the world today."

She estimated in her statement that the company "may be able to donate up to 1 million pairs of shoes next year."

A spokesman for TOMS told the L.A. Times that no legal actions are being planned. In a brief e-mail, Blake Mycoskie, TOMS' founder who was in Ethiopia at the time the story broke, wrote: "At Toms, giving isn't a trend, or a fad, or a part of our business -- it is our business. We're proud that Toms has inspired a global movement and continues to influence other companies around the world."

Douglas Hand, a New York-based attorney who specializes in the fashion industry, told the Times that TOMS may have no grounds for any lawsuit.

"While you could argue," Mr. Hand said, "that Skechers is trading off TOMS' goodwill and what it represents -- namely giving shoes to needy children -- it's unlikely any judge is going to say you're the only company that can give kids free shoes."

But TOMS' fans and others mocked the new line. Many felt Bobs' effort lacked authenticity, coming from Skechers, and took advantage of a profitable yet philanthropic business.

"By mirroring the TOMS' concept so blatantly, Skechers not only showed a lack of creativity and originality, but they left themselves wide open to accusations of disingenuous social concern," wrote Simon Mainwaring in a blog for Fast Company.

Discussion Question: Could Skechers do more harm than good to its own brand by copying the TOMS philanthropic model? Would you have recommended a different approach?

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