Reebok set to relaunch controversial EasyTone shoes range

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com


Reebok is mounting a European relaunch of its EasyTone sports shoes, backed by fresh research into their toning effects, following previous complaints made to regulators about its advertising claims.

Reebok: relaunching EasyTone range with campaign starring Helena Christensen

The Adidas-owned sports brand is shifting the focus of its footwear positioning to women’s ‘satisfaction’. While technology will no longer be the main focus of the range, it will underpin all marketing communications.

Reebok has not changed the product itself, but has commissioned independent research that it claims provides fresh evidence of the physical benefits of wearing the shoes.

It has launched a PR campaign featuring brand ambassadors Helena Christensen and Eva Mendes based on the repositioning. Activity featuring its UK ambassador, Kelly Brook, will follow later this year.

The fresh positioning, handled by M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, is being used across Europe.

In December 2010, the ASA banned ads for Reebok’s EasyTone Curve trainers following two complaints, stating that Reebok gave insufficient evidence that the shoes toned wearers’ ‘legs and bum more than regular trainers’.

Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission ruled that the company had made unsubstantiated claims in the advertising of its EasyTone walking shoes and RunTone running shoes and forced it to return $25m to US consumers who had bought them.

Reebok was also barred from making these and any further health or fitness claims unless backed by scientific evidence.

Zenith Comment:
Will be interesting to see if M&C Saatchi can shift consumers opinion on the EasyTone range.

Reebok Relaunching EasyTone Shoes After Settling FTC Suit

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Reebok got itself into a heap of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission when it put out an ad campaign that claimed that the design of its EasyTone and RunTone shoes help give anyone who wears them better muscle tone than anyone who wears other shoes.

The company had such noted muscle-tone experts as Kim Kardashian spreading the news of its effects. Back in 2009, the kontroversial starlet blogged her love for the product, the Daily Mail reports. 

“You guys wouldn’t believe it, these shoes have a ball (kind of like that big balance ball you use to do sit ups on) on the bottom of the shoes!” Kardashian wrote. “So basically it works your leg and butt muscles as you simply walk!”

Back in September, the shoemaker agreed to pay the FTC $25 million to help settle the matter, but that didn’t mean Reebok didn’t think its shoe was doing the muscle-toning job. “Settling does not mean we agree with the FTC's allegations; we do not,” the company said in a statement, the Mail reports. “We have received overwhelmingly enthusiastic feedback from thousands of EasyTone customers, and we remain committed to the further development of our EasyTone line of products.”

Now, Reebok has announced that it will re-introduce the shoes to the marketplace and continue developing them, the Mail adds.

Since the toning market is 85 percent made up of women, that is likely where Reebok’s advertisements will continue to be aimed. “Toning was driven by the insight that women care about their looks, and that insight doesn’t change,” said Reebok president Uli Becker, the Mail reports.

One suspects that Reebok won’t likely restart its “Make Your Boobs Jealous” campaign that raised the hackles of feminist consumers everywhere.

Source: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/12/21/Reebok-EasyTone-Relaunch-122111.aspx

 

Don't believe the ads! Reebok to pay $25 million in toning shoe refunds

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Reebok is  "standing by its technology" after agreeing  to refund $25 million to Americans who, led on by deceptive ads, bought its popular toning shoes  . The case -  one of the largest settlements ever with the US government over  advertising claims - will reinforce " the negative  view some people have of advertising," said one expert. 

The Federal Trade Commission said the footwear maker’s ads frequently featured “very toned, scantily-clad, and sometimes nude’’ women who falsely said that the shoes had been shown to tighten muscles.  

The US settlement follows a similar case in the UK where the Advertising Standards Authority banned a magazine ad for Reebok EasyTone Curve trainers and barred a TV advertisement from being broadcast again without substantial revisions.The ASA said the claims in both advertisements were unsubstantiated and misleading. 

 

As part of the American settlement, Reebok is barred from using such claims to market its toning merchandise. 

 

Toning shoes, said the Boston Globe, are sneakers designed with unstable soles so leg muscles have to work harder to maintain balance during everyday activities .Sales zoomed last year to $1.1 billion from $350 million in 2009. The sneakers were sold at a premium price of up to $100 a pair 

 

In one television and Internet ad , said the FTC , a scantily-clad model, said to the camera , “Reebok EasyTone shoes not only look fantastic, they’ll help make your legs and butt look great, too.’’ 

 

Larissa Bungo, of the FTC’s case team, said Reebok made specific performance claims related to its toning shoes without having proof. 

 

“We want all marketers to know they must have substantiation for their claims prior to making them,’’ Bungo said. 

 

But Reebok says it is standing behind the toning technology. “Settling does not mean we agree with the FTC’s allegations; we do not,’’ the company said in a statement.  

 

“We have received overwhelmingly enthusiastic feedback from thousands of EasyTone customers, and we remain committed to the further development of our EasyTone products.’’ 

 

Reebok - owned by German firm Adidas- is the first manufacturer to settle false advertising charges over toning shoes, but others are under scrutiny, said the Globe.

 

Reebok Customers who want a refund can go to www.ftc.gov/reebok to submit a claim. If the refund request is in excess of $200 they may be asked for proof of purchase. 

 

A study released in 2010 by the non-profit American Council on Exercise said the shoes failed to live up to fitness promises made by the manufacturers.

 

“People do want to believe in an effortless approach to becoming fit,’’ Cedric Bryant, the council’s chief science officer, said . 

 

“But the claims that these shoes helped burn calories and produced a firmer butt  were not supported by the research.  It’s not a sexy message, but getting fit requires a combination of regular activity, sensible eating, and making lifestyle changes.’’

 

Professor Chris Cakebread,  who teaches advertising and sports marketing at Boston University, said the FTC settlement with Reebok would reinforce the negative perception many people have of advertising.

“I would equate Reebok toning shoe marketing with bad diet pill advertising,’’ Cakebread told the Globe. “You get what you pay for, buyer beware.’’

Source: http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2011/09/29/26654-don-t-believe-the-ads-reebok-to-pay-25-million-in-toning-shoe-refunds-/