BOBS — you can’t be serious!

This will be my first rant in quite awhile, but when I saw this ad on television, I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing:

Skechers, a multi-millionbillion dollar shoe company, is “taking a page out of the TOMS book” and executing the exact same campaign. And that’s no exaggeration or hyperbole; it’s the exact same idea! And I think this is so wrong.

TOMS began in 2006, and had the idea of doing a one-for-one campaign. For every pair of TOMS shoes you buy, a pair is donated to a child who has no shoes to put on their feet.

From the TOMS website:

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.

…During its first year in business, TOMS sold 10,000 pairs of shoes. Blake returned to Argentina later that year with family and friends and gave back to the children who had first inspired him. Thanks to supporters, TOMS gave the One Millionth pair of new shoes to a child in need in September 2010. TOMS now gives in over 20 countries and works with charitable partners in the field who incorporate shoes into their health, education, hygiene, and community development programs.

On the flip side, the BOBS shoes have been around since 2010 (from what I can tell) and openly admit to “taking a page from the TOMS book.” This is Skechers trying to give back to other communities in order to be a more responsible company.

Charitable initiatives should never be seen as an outright negative action, because someone less fortunate is (hopefully) the ultimate benefactor. But this campaign makes my blood boil.

Skechers as a company has been around since 1992, and looks a lot different corporately from TOMS. From the Skechers site:

A two-billion-dollar-plus company, SKECHERS’ success stems from its employees, high-quality, varied product offering, diversified domestic and international distribution channels, and targeted multi-channel marketing.

Skechers, by coming out with the exact same shoe, design, and concept as TOMS but with the ability to sell at a lower price point than TOMS, will rip through the TOMS shares and potential reach by undercutting them on price and marketing dollars.

This pisses me off. TOMS started, as a company, because one person wanted to make a difference in the world after seeing the way others have to live. Skechers began as a way for one person to make money. Philanthropy versus profit. And believe me, I’m not suggesting that the people at TOMS aren’t in it for the money to some extent; everyone needs to make a dollar at the end of the day to support themselves while they try to change the world. But the number one goal was to help people. Skechers is attempting to take away the business that TOMS has worked hard to develop over the last five years, with their main goal of profit (with the veneer of philanthropy laid on top).

And I get it, really I do. Businesses take ideas from each other all the time, especially if they’re seen as being potentially profitable or in style. I remember back when “Dawgs” came on the scene to steal the limelight from the “Crocs” movement, and I couldn’t care less. One company out for a profit is looking to move in on the business of another company looking for profit.

BOBS and TOMS is not the same thing.

I have two pairs of TOMS right now, and I can say without hesitation that I will never buy a pair of BOBS shoes. Please tell me I’m not alone in thinking this is fucked up!

Skechers, if you want to give back and do something to make the world a better place, don’t do it by cutting out the legs of a company who had the idea first. There are a dozen different ways for you to make a difference.

working on it

My never-ending quest to be permanently nomadic on the ‘net is continuing.

I’m going to finish out NaBloPoMo on my WordPress blog (here), but afterward will be relocating (again!) to Tumblr. It’s the only site I found that is: 1) free, 2) able to domain map without a paid upgrade, and 3) offers integrated media posts with little limits and no charge.

I feel restless. That’s probably the best way to describe it. Restless, and irritated with myself for not being able to nail down exactly what I want (both online and in real life). I guess this is all part-and-parcel with being in your 20s. I just hope it doesn’t take until my 30s to feel settled.

Has anyone else felt this unstable before? How did you find ways to feel more at peace with yourself?

I’ve always been over-analytical but it’s never really affected me like it is now. And I really am happy with my life! (Truly.) I have great friends, enough money, a wonderful house and home, my boyfriend, my cats…what the heck else could there be?

I’m going to become a nudist…well, maybe

It seems really impractical to be a nudist, in November/December, in Canada. All of your bits and pieces would fall off, or you’d be stuck staying inside until the summer!

But I swear it’s about to come to that. I’ve realized that I need to refresh and reinvest in my closet; I was looking through it and the number of things that I bought in high school and first year university is remarkable. Most of the businesswear I have has been handed down from older friends who have been working longer than I have. Most of the shirts I have are band shirts, or shirts that I found on sale and paid $20 or less for. My wardrobe was definitely sufficient to get me through university and I had enough clothes to appropriately job search, but now I’m ready to get my closet in shape! But it’s so much more difficult to spend money on clothes than I thought it would be!

It seems that I’m in a style limbo of sorts.

The clothes that I like in the style I like always seem to look better online than in person. The material doesn’t feel as nice as it looks, and it’s always thinner/rougher/shorter than it appeared to be on the web.

The nicer clothes feel too plain Jane most of the time for me, and I’m not interested in spending $50 on a plain button-up shirt. Besides, I’m only 23! I still want to be a little edgy and cute.

So, I feel stuck. And that gets me really frustrated, so even if I were to happen upon some great find I would probably walk right past it, too busy stewing in my frustration.

Thomas and I are going to go shopping after his shift on Saturday, both for groceries (yay!) and clothes. We’re hosting my parents for dinner on Sunday night, so maybe I can find something to serve them and something to wear while I do it.

Wish me luck.