So I was over on the treehugger.com website this morning and I saw a banner ad that caught my attention. It was for shoes that are supposed to be "eco-friendly" by a company called "simple". I've seen ads for this brand of shoe before in magazines too. So I decided to head over and check them out. First off, the designs are so ugly that they are actually kinda cool. I clicked on the "casual" tab and clicked on a style I kinda liked... then I saw the price tag! $90!! For what basically amounts to a slipper with a sole. I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous price to pay for a shoe that amounts to recycled tires and burlap. The materials for these can't cost more than $3.
Simple, you should be ashamed of yourselves. To promote yourselves as a "Green" company is great, but then to over charge such a profit on these shoes is near criminal. I know, I know... Free Market, etc... I think there is a line.
You just lost a potential customer here.
If anyone knows of a "green" show company with reasonable prices please post in the comments.
I just went over to Zappos.com to see if I could find a cheaper shoe as an example. Maybe I'm wrong? Their cheapest "shoes" are $30 which turn out to be flip-flops! Aren't these same shoes available for like $5 in the average store? Oh well. I guess it all comes down to where you shop then. My last pair of sneakers I bought for $25 at the clubstore BJ's. No high fashion for me (though they were reeboks).
2 comments:
Hmmmm. I definitely hear what you're saying. I get frustrated by the way being 'green' often means having disposable income--green products are always more expensive than the usual.
In the case of these shoes, I do wonder though at the expenses in making the shoes other than the materials: who and how are they being made, who designed them, are the people who are making them being paid fair wages - rather than sweatshop labor?
To put it in a much lighter way, check out one of my favorite songs from the Flight of the Conchords. You have to make it through their lengthy intro. But listen for the verse on Sneakers and slave labor. Very irreverent. And very funny.
Here's the YouTube link:
Think About It
hee hee - thanks for the youtube link :) These guys are definitely in the "weird" category, but I think I like them :)
I just went back over to the simple shoes website to see if they mention where (or by whom) the shoes are made, and I saw that they are a brand owned my "deckers" corporation who also owns Teva and Ugg. Still no mention on the decker website where they are made, and since they seem to be a corporation and not a "grass roots" company like they portray themselves as, chances are they are made somewhere overseas. Don't get me started! :)
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