Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Toms Trend: love it or hate it?

I’ve been seeing the Toms trend more and more: around town, in schools, and at weddings. I think the Toms shoe is attractive and comfortable aside from it’s heartfelt claim and I see why the trendiness of it has caught on.

I also don’t feel entirely comfortable with Toms. It almost seems like their making money off of the poor. “Buy this and help a child” makes you feel sorry, you want to help, and buying a pair makes you feel good about yourself. Helping each other and doing good becomes a fad.

I know I shouldn’t be too critical of a company that’s doing good…but I can’t help to think about it when I see them.

Any thoughts on this?

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3 comments:

  1. i'll give my thoughts-i found out (somewhere...can't remember where...worth looking up though) that it only costs TOMS manufacturers around $2 to make both the pair of TOMS you buy and the pair of TOMS sent off to wherever. what i want to know is why they still charge $50 for a pair of cheapo canvas slip-ons, when other companies making cheap canvas slip-ons charge $10 and under. also, i've traveled a lot, visited the poorest of the poor, and i have yet to see the desperate need for shoes. in fact, many people where i've been in africa don't wear shoes b/c most people don't, and they aren't necessary. if they did so choose to wear shoes, there are loads of plastic flip-flops and slip ons available almost everywhere i've ever been (including a remote island 4 hours off the coast of africa with no running water or electricity). people have much, much more desperate need of other things (food, clean water, health care, JESUS!) than cheap canvas slip-ons. so there are my thoughts HAH!

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  2. I've never been to a third world country, so for me to make a call on whats needed or not would be a bit wrong. They sound so nice on their website, but that's partly what annoys me too. They make so much profit off of it. I guess I struggle with : a little good is better than no good, right?
    I had no idea that flip flop's were so accessible either.

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  3. AGREED. I own a pair-- mostly because I hate shoes and socks with a passion, and I love the way they feel and fit, but I definitely believe that they play off of our generation's desire to be philanthropic and do good without getting our hands dirty, even. They are cheap. They fall apart quickly. And, I totally have read statistics that Katie mentioned, it's less than $4 for two pairs of Toms! Tell me why they need to make $50 plus per pair (and don't you dare tell me plane tickets.)

    i won't even get started on the things I've read about the way it kind of poops on the country's local economy... we should be giving them money to buy local shoes and perpetuate business for THEM, not us!

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