FTC: Skechers deceived consumers; WA awarded $117K

The government wants you to know that simply sporting a
pair of Skechers’ fitness shoes is not going to get you
Kim Kardashian’s curves or Brooke Burke’s toned tush.

Skechers USA Inc. will pay $40 million to settle charges
by the Federal Trade Commission that the footwear company
made unfounded claims that its Shape-ups shoes would help
people lose weight and strengthen their butt, leg and
stomach muscles. Kardashian, Burke and other celebrities
endorsed the shoes in Skechers ads.

“Advertising materials claimed that consumers may ‘get in
shape without setting foot in a gym’ even though there’s
no good evidence to show the shoes work as advertised,”
said Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna in a news
release. “Don’t cancel your gym membership. File these
sketchy footwear claims under ‘too good to be true.'”

Per the settlement agreement, Washington will receive
$117,138. About half of that money will cover the state’s
legal fees and the rest will be used for consumer
education, health care purposes like health-related
research or education or programs directed towards girls’
or women’s physical fitness, proper nutrition or reduction
of obesity.

Wednesday’s settlement also involves the company’s
Resistance Runner, Toners, and Tone-ups shoes and claims
of deceptive advertising for those shoes as well.

Consumers who bought the shoes would be eligible for
refunds, though it’s not clear how much money they’ll get.
The FTC says that will depend on how many claims are
received in the eight-month filing period. Buyers can go
to the FTC website to file a claim.

Most of the $40 million federal settlement would be
returned to consumers, but a small amount of the
settlement would be used to administer the payouts.

The settlement is related to a broader agreement also
announced Wednesday that resolves a multi-state
investigation led by the attorneys general from Tennessee
and Ohio and involving more than 40 states. The company
will provide an additional $5 million to the states, and
pay $5 million in class-action attorney fees.

“The FTC’s message, for Skechers and other national
advertisers, is to shape up your substantiation or tone
down your claims,” said David Vladeck, director of the
agency’s consumer protection bureau. For millions of
consumers, he said, “the only thing that got a workout was
their wallet.”

The commission settled similar charges with Reebok last
year over its EasyTone walking shoes and RunTone running
shoes. That $25 million agreement also provided customer
refunds.

Skechers denied the allegations but said it settled to
avoid long litigation.

“Skechers could not ignore the exorbitant cost and endless
distraction of several years spent defending multiple
lawsuits in multiple courts across the country,” said
David Weinberg, the company’s chief financial officer.
“While we believe we could have prevailed in each of these
cases, to do so would have imposed an unreasonable burden
on the company.”

The company, based in Manhattan Beach, Calif., said it has
received overwhelmingly enthusiastic feedback about the
shoes from thousands of customers.

Skechers billed its Shape-ups as a fitness tool designed
to promote weight loss and tone muscles with the shoe’s
curved “rocker” or rolling bottom – saying it provides
natural instability and causes the consumer to “use more
energy with every step.” Shape-ups cost about $100 and are
sold at retailers nationwide.

Ads for the Resistance Runner shoes claimed people who
wear them could increase “muscle activation” by up to 85
percent for posture-related muscles and 71 percent for one
of the muscles in the buttocks, said the FTC.

The commission says Skechers falsely represented that
clinical studies backed up the company’s claims about its
toning shoes. The FTC’s Vladeck said the studies had
defects, such as one that said people lost weight wearing
the toning shoes, when in fact they gained weight.

The settlement bars Skechers from misrepresenting any
tests, studies or research on its shoes in the future.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.