Shape Ups

The shoe company Sketchers has been selling a shoe called Shape Ups. They claim that these shoes are designed to tone your muscles just by wearing the shoes for about an hour a day. Many people say they are the most unappealing pair of shoes they have ever owned but they continue to wear them because they make either their back, hips knees of ankles feel better.

Sketchers newest marketing scheme is targeted towards young girls. Girls in their preteens are being pushed to wear shoes that are supposed to not only tone your muscles but improve your physical physique. The most recent commercial shows a skinny girl dancing around and singing about her Shape Ups. It also has young boys dressed up like different junk food chasing her and trying to keep up with her.

It is hard to say if the young girls watching these commercials are aware of the message they are being sent. The Shape Ups are supposed to give a women toned muscles and a curvier body. To push the message on young girls that they need to think about what they look like and concentrate on how tone their muscles and body are is basically like taking their childhood away.

Some people are saying that targeting young girls with the Sketchers Shape Ups is helping Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign. The first lady Michelle Obama started the Lets Move Campaign to prevent and reduce childhood obesity in the United States.

What this basically comes down to is by pushing this message on such young children is it doing more harm than good?

jonathan Collins
women in sports 338i