Guest Post By Maura Cheeks

You might have heard by now that Skechers, the shoe brand people love to hate, is in a bit of a mess. In short, the company has created a shoe called BOBS, which bears a striking resemblance to the popular canvas slip-on shoe by TOMS, the famous company with a philanthropic mission.

“Striking resemblance” is actually somewhat of an understatement; BOBS look like TOMS, they sound like TOMS, but they aren’t TOMS.   Skechers’ BOBS boast the same overall design, the same mission promising to donate one pair to Soles4Souls for every pair sold, and a even a short male name like TOMS.

Skechers isn’t saying a word about their newest creation–they’ve removed BOBS from their website (when clicking on the link via Google search, the Skechers website self-corrects my search to boys instead of BOBS), and have yet to comment on any of the reactions the shoes have evoked.

Thanks to the viral nature of bad ideas, this has only fueled discussion on social media. People have been tweeting “Don’t buy BOBS!” and blogging their ideas, mostly questioning Skechers’ thought process.  I dare you to Google or Twitter “Skechers BOBS” to see what you can find.  Not good news for Skechers, eh?

Hey, Skechers PR team!  I have some advice:  1. Head to the nearest Starbucks.  2. Order a double espresso.  3. Repeat at hourly intervals…it’s going to be a long couple of weeks.

…Or will it?

Counterfeiting and Knock-offs are nothing new; from buying a “Louis Vuitton” handbag for $50 on 5th Avenue, to walking into almost any Forever 21 store, to Steven Madden having lawsuits filed against them by Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen for copyright infringement, unfair competition and deceptive business practices.

Design infringement leads to issues of brand identity. Consumers expect each fashion brand to have a unique personality, identity and story. That’s not to say we don’t expect copying or “inspirations” from the brands we love – it’s expected and in some cases, even desired.  However, the public has come to expect some degree of transparency, creativity and originality.

Sadly, more and more companies seem to be taking the easy way out in order to get people talking. It becomes less about the final product, and more about the buzz surrounding its success or failure (Yes, we’re looking at you, Gap).

The viral nature of social media has made this a highly successful marketing tactic.  These days, the fact that people begin bashing your product is a small price to pay in exchange for having the whole of Twitterverse discussing your brand. I’m not suggesting that this is what Skechers was after (though I wouldn’t discount it); I’m saying that despite people slamming their name, they garnered some pretty hefty publicity and probably ended up helping some kids in the process.

While the whole debacle is humorous (they are virtually indistinguishable from TOMS) and seems like nothing more than the latest guffaw by a big name brand, it leaves me with a peculiar feeling of relief–relief that people still believe in striving to create original products, and relief that the public demands more, and doesn’t mind speaking up if they don’t agree.

About the Author: Maura Cheeks holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Communications and Behavior. Maura currently works at Zócalo Group, a leading word of mouth marketing and social media agency.

Photo: Lego Shoes by City File