Skechers Seeing Red Over CARU Decision
The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) determined recently that Skechers, the maker of Red Phrans-Phavorite Sneakers, and Marc Ecko Enterprises, which markets the product, should modify or discontinue advertising that suggests the shoes shine red when used. CARU picked up the ad during its monitoring practices, as it aired during after-school hours on Nickelodeon. Vanessa Hudgens is shown dancing in the commercial, and as she does so, her shoelaces light up in bright red. Her back-up dancers also wear shoes that appear to light up. There is even a close-up of the laces illumiunated in red. Oh, and did I mention the shoes are called "Reds"?
Red-faced with frustration, Skechers and Marc Ecko Enterprises have decided that CARU is wrong to assume that kids think the laces really light up. So they are going to appeal to the National Advertising Review Board (NARB). Appeals from CARU cases are rare, so this should be interesting. It should be noted that CARU has no power to pull an advertisement, and it cannot refer the matter to the FTC while an appeal is pending under its procedures. Thus, Skechers and Marc Ecko might be planning to run the spot through Easter and then pull it before the NARB hearing. If so, that's an interesting strategic move.
Why This Matters
You can't misrepresent how a product works, but the threshold is very low when it comes to kids. Shoes that appear to light up or that make you jump really high are two ways in which CARU has limited marketers' ability to exaggerate in the area of kids' advertising. Also, when it comes to the self-regulatory process, it's good to know the rules.
Skechers has a history of offensive fantasy advertising, including ads that make women's groups annoyed because they objectify women (Google it), and now their hi-tops ads running all the time on Cartoon Network showing girls turning boys into toads and otherwise treating them with (fantasy) violence and (real) disrespect. I am the mother of a small boy, and I can see the effect these ads have on him. They should not be on. If it were turned around, with boys doing such things to girls, or black kids to white kids, Skechers MIGHT get a clue. So let's help them get one: they can print a disclaimer about the laces on-screen, but they should not even MAKE the ads that are themed on dividing people, in particular making young boys resentful towards girls. Is that the future they really want? Hard to fathom.