Lets start the year how I mean to go on. Avoiding doing my taxes in favour of a good rant. I like a good rant and this one I feel is well deserved. I'm sure I can't be the only person to have lifted their hands to the heavens and shouted "Oi Clarks NOOOOOOOOOO!"
My particular bugbear? The one that has really got the blood pressure rising? I can direct it to one person. Whoever it was who works at Clarks who woke up one morning and said "I've a great marketing strategy, lets put some toys into the soles of our children's shoes! The kids'll love that and they'll pester their parents into always making sure that it is a Clarks shoe on their precious offspring's foot".
Where do I start? Deep breaths and calming thoughts to stop the blood pressure from flailing off the radar.
1. If I want a toy, I'll go to a toy shop. If I want a shoe I used to go to Clarks as Clarks are well known for making excellent shoes that last and are good for childrens' feet. In what way is having a small toy shoved into the sole of their shoe good for their feet? Not to mention the rubbishness of the toy.
2. Have you seen how long it takes me to leave the house in the morning? Most of that time is spent screeching "will you just put your (goddamn bloody) shoes on!". I do not need anything to make this process longer. Do you know what makes this process longer? Either looking for the (goddamn bloody) toys and/or getting them back into the sole of the (goddamn bloody) shoe. Every morning I curse Clarks name.
3. Don't think that we'll bend to pester power here either. The ONLY reason that Luke has a pair of these shoes is that they were the ONLY pair of shoes in a 12H (yes people my boy has feet wider than your house). Trust me I looked high and low because I didn't want to buy a pair of shoes with toys in the soles because I knew, just knew, how it would end up.
Now my main preoccupation is how to furtively lose the toys but at the back of my mind is a little niggling worry about what happens to the big space where the toys used to live? Does it just cave in? Because that'll be comfortable. I guess we'll find out soon enough because the toys will get lost with or without my assistance.
Right, rant over. I feel better but I will still be cursing the name of Clarks tomorrow as we try to make it on time to school.
Blimey. Had no idea Clarks did this. Sounds awful! I always think of them as a good, sensible children's shoe brand - not the kind of brand that would resort to this kind of gimmick. Good for you for shouting them down...
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, what does happen when the toys get thrown out, I mean, lost? There's no way that a hole like that won't collapse a little. Can't be good for the kids' feet or backs. I'll bet 50p that they'll be off the market within the year. (Possibly because some irate mum has beaten up the CEO in the playground, but still...)
ReplyDeleteLove it. With you all the way.
ReplyDeleteToys in the shoes? Sounds a bit odd. Will have to go investigate (and then avoid) that!
ReplyDeleteMay I add to your rant? I HATE the shoes they sell with the horrible lights in the sole. I don't know if it's limited to just girls shoes, but they are just vile.
ReplyDeleteClarks: if you MUST make shoes with ghastly gimmicky crap like lights in the sole, at least add an on/off switch.
Oh yeah, also, E is NOT an unpopular width fitting, why do they only sell a very limited selection of shoes in an E? And why are they always the most horrible tacky shoes in the entire range?
Grrrrr. I have come to dread shoe shopping with my kid.
What's with making boys shoes so hideously ugly too????
ReplyDeletethat's really daft, didn't even know they did this! I had a lovely first shoe experience, no toys in the 3.5 G size yet thankfully. The marketing ploy was much nicer too, an instant photo of toddler in her first shoes and a cute wee frame. That one works for me, the toy definitely not.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with everything that's been said. Aside from the annoyance of the stupid small toy that will get lost in five minutes, I picture her running around the playground and then twisting her ankle because her shoe caved in. Hate them. And the ones with lights in.
ReplyDeleteI just want to buy plain old-fashioned school shoes that don't cost the earth. And OMG- I'd much rather pay a fiver less for shoes that don't have a crappy toy in the base or lights in the soles.
More shoe, less gimic Clarks.
I am SO with you on this one! Because my boys feet are H wide too! Impossible to deal with! Best to stick toy ion with superglue so it's still there and cannot be lost!
ReplyDeleteOh gawd I hate those green little pieces of junk. Thankfully in our house they get lost quickly and by the second day no one remembers that the shoes came with a toy.
ReplyDeleteCompletely with you there. I have held out buying any of these shoes for my almost 6-year old girl for years now, although these rate, in her view, as the best shoes ever. What I completely do not understand is how Clarkes can justify saying that they care about children's feet and development and then proceed to put heels in their shoes (from age 3?)
ReplyDeleteI guess this is what Marx was probably thinking about when he observed that capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction.
ReplyDeleteAaa the shoe thingy - our youngest loses them everywhere we go and we seem to be constantly buying them for all four of our kids...Where do the go? The way of socks maybe...
ReplyDeleteHave never seen the toys, but it annoys the fuck out of me that there are no nice boots for boys. Whenver I see a nice pair of books that look like they are for boys they inevitably have hearts on them or butterflies or diamante buckles... oi, Clarks - boys like boots too!! And they need them! So there!
ReplyDeleteHave never seen the toys, but it annoys the fuck out of me that there are no nice boots for boys. Whenver I see a nice pair of books that look like they are for boys they inevitably have hearts on them or butterflies or diamante buckles... oi, Clarks - boys like boots too!! And they need them! So there!
ReplyDeleteSome shoe designs could be risky because it could be funny for some. Still, I choose clarks shoes awesome because of the classic design and comfort.
ReplyDelete