SeNotu #6: Say no to Crocs

It's been a while since I've written a SeNotu but something came to my attention recently. It's the fact that the rubber shoes that have taken the nation by storm have not turned out to be the discardable fad I thought them out to be.

"They're so comfortable."

"Everyone has them."

"They come in so many colors."

"They're so in."

These are only a handful of the bullshit reasons people give to justify looking like they stole some rubber slippers from a spa. Having seen one of the last Croc ads, I couldn't help but identify with the guy screaming because I often find myself rolling my eyes at the sight of someone wearing the crocs because just like their wooly cousin, the Ug boots, the basic premise behind a Croc is that it's a fashion statement. I know people will insist that it's a statement of function over fashion, but trust me, if it weren't a trend, people wouldn't be wearing them because last I checked, this wasn't the first comfortable shoe in existence. Oh and it's not the prettiest either but for some reason, they annoy the shit out of me, which is perfectly considered in the advertising and I don't know why it is, but they piss me off, and as is showcased in a thirty second spot, I'm not the only one.

What this might imply though is that a quasi counter culture of consumers will wear Crocs just to piss off your average layman shoe enthusiast. Great... so now an army of Smurf shoe wearing people will proclaim their own personal glory by buying shoes.

Sometimes I wonder if consumers will ever catch up to how gullible or marketing sensibilities really are. Oh well, all I know is that for me at least, that fad is a total croc.

cheers