The Federal Trade Commission announced on Wednesday that Manhattan Beach-based Skechers agreed to pay $40 million to settle charges of alleged false advertisement, after claiming that its line of toning shoes would help people lose weight and tone their butt, legs and abs “without setting foot in a gym.”
Customers who bought the shoes – which include the Shape-ups, Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-ups lines – will be eligible for refunds either directly through the FTC or through a court-approved class action lawsuit.
Skechers ran ads featuring an endorsement from local chiropractor Steven Gautreau, who recommended the shoes based on an independent clinical study he conducted. “Skechers failed to disclose that Dr. Gautreau is married to a Skechers marketing executive, and that Skechers paid Dr. Gautreau to conduct the study,” the FTC alleged.
Gautreau was not available for comment at press time.
Skechers stands behind its advertising and asserts that in the long run, the settlement would allow them to save on legal fees. “While we vigorously deny the allegations made in these legal proceedings and looked forward to vindicating these claims in court, 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, in a release.
Skechers President Michael Greenberg said the company sticks by its product. “(The company) is permitted under the settlement to continue to advertise that wearing rocker-bottom shoes like Shape-ups can lead to increased leg muscle activation, increased calorie burn, improved posture and reduced back pain,” he said, in a release.
The settlement is part of the commission’s ongoing effort to quell overhyped advertising claims. “Skechers’ unfounded claims went beyond stronger and more toned muscles. The company even made claims about weight loss and cardiovascular health,” said David Vladeck, director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a release. “The FTC’s message, for Skechers and other national advertisers, is to shape up your substantiation or tone down your claims.”
