We are talking Bobs and Toms – read about the Sketcher Bobs saga that started way back in 2010.

Saturday we were in Journey’s for Kids attempting to find my growing boy’s feet some new shoes. We were on a mission to find some Toms shoes for kids.

As much as I LOVE buying online, there are some things in life that I want NOW.  So we are in Journey’s for Kids and I ask the sales dude if they had Toms, he said NO, BUT he had something just as good, Bobs Skechers.

SKECHERS?  No thanks.

Do you know the mission behind Toms?

The Journey’s Kids worker informed me that “yeah, the same thing with these Sketchers. They are doing what Toms does but they are Sketchers.”

WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING? Those words fell out of my mouth. I mean, I get it but also really?

TOMS Shoes are NOT the Same as Sketchers BOBS

In typical non-thinking Molly style, I snapped a Twitpic and tweeted out:

Toms Knock Off Shoes by Sketchers Bob Shoes

Skechers is copying TOMs with a line called BOBs. I asked the sales dude if this was a joke. https://twitpic.com/2nhnln

And went on my merry way.  Tonight I logged on to HootSuite to see my tweet retweeted 5 more times, by people I don’t know. Whoops. It’s funny how what you say can get tweeted and retweeted and posted on walls and yadda yadda. I mean I should know that by now RIGHT?

So I opened up the Twitpic to see how many people had viewed my silly image.

380 views.AND after looking closer at the BOBS by SKECHERS Twitpic I snapped I see Soles 4 Souls logo on the tag and then I started to feel a little rotten.  I hadn’t noticed that little diddy before.  Why rotten? Because though I’ve never been a fan of Skechers, I’ve always been a fan of Soles4souls.

Soles 4 Souls

Soles 4 Souls is an amazing organization. Copied directly from their website:

Soles4Souls has given away over 10 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 7 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States.

In other words. These are good people doing good work…

SO should I POUTabout Soles4Souls receiving a large donation from Skechers? (Skechers you better be sharing a large sum of that profit!) OR Should I be upset with a BIG brand like Skechers finding a way to cause market?

Cause marketingor cause-related marketing refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a for profit business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. The term is sometimes used more broadly and generally to refer to any type of marketing effort for social and other charitable causes, including in-house marketing efforts by non-profit organizations. Cause marketing differs from corporate giving (philanthropy) as the latter generally involves a specific donation that is tax deductible, while cause marketing is a marketing relationship generally not based on a donation. (thanks wikipedia)

No. Cause marketing is a good thing.

BUT Bobs SKECHERS CAN YOU PLEASE BE MORE ORIGINAL?

Tom Shoes vs Bobs Shoes

I mean seriously TOMS and BOBS or is it BOBS and TOMS shoes – similar but different. And LOOK at the design originality people come on.. it is one thing to knock off with a similar name with a similar mission, but couldn’t you create an original shoe?!?!?

toms shoes vs bobs shoes
bobs vs toms

Read the latest on this saga. Toms denounces any connection to Bob Shoes. 

My knee-jerk reaction to the sales dude was most likely 2 reasons.

1. BOBS is a total play off of TOMS

and

2. A few weeks ago I heard Blake Mycoskie, founder of  Toms Shoes speak a few weeks ago at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit.  His company is built from the heart. He fell into the business after seeing a shoe drive first hand.  Toms Shoes pays for employees to go on shoe drops after they have been with the company for 2 years.  As he spoke, you could hear the passion and understand the mission behind the business. It was genuine.

Sketcher Bobs – Cause Marketing

SO to be FAIR, I am trying to do some research to find out more about this whole thing.  I have checked out Skecher’s site for BOBS by Skechers and have found nothing.  I have looked on Soles for Souls site and again nothing on this Bobs shoe partnership.

I finally found something on Journey’s For Kids site so wondering if this is just a shoe promotion thru Journey’s for Kids…..

Canvas slipper from Skechers featuring allover sparkles and a comfy sole.
Buy a pair of BOBS and Skechers will donate a pair of shoes to a child in need through Soles4Soles!

So here I am at the end of the post.

Happy that kids will have shoes, everyone deserves SHOES. But mad at the MAN (Skechers) who has to copy in order to compete.

Competition is good.  Copying is LAME PEOPLE!

Toms Shoe Fan for Life

As for me and my family, our feet are loyal to Toms.

toms flag
Toms Shoes

Want to help put shoes on a kid’s feet? Just donate your slightly used shoes! If your kids’ feet grow as fast as my kids’ feet do you should have NO PROBLEM finding shoes that have barely been worn to drop off! Soles4Souls has a drop off location most likely near you!

Find a Soles4Souls Shoe Drop-Off Location

Donate to Soles4Souls

More Digital Mom Blog Fun: