CARU Recommends Skechers Discontinue Implied Claim for ‘Skech-Air’ Shoes’

New York, NY –  Jan. 20, 2016  – The Children’s Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CARU) has recommended that Skechers USA modify broadcast advertising for the company’s Skech-Air shoes to avoid suggesting wearing the shoes will allow a child to bounce or jump high.

CARU is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. It is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The advertising at issue came to the attention of CARU through a consumer complaint.
The 30-second commercial featured several children engaged in active play on an oversized Skech-Air shoe. During the course of the commercial, a voiceover stated: “Do you want to feel like you’re walking on air? Well guess what? Now you can with the new Skech-Air from Skechers!”

Following its review, CARU determined that a child could reasonably take away the implied message that wearing the shoes would allow one to bounce or jump high and recommended the advertiser discontinue the claim in future advertising.

Skechers took issue with CARU’s findings, but said the company “agrees to modify or discontinue the advertising in question, which, as of this writing, has not aired on television for many months.”