Skechers recently got itself into hot water when it had to shell out $40 million to settle a suit brought against it by the Federal Trade Commission to settle false advertising charges that its “toning sneakers” could make consumers look and actually be healthier without having them change their behavior in any other way.

Now the shoe brand is looking to build back some of the good feeling it torpedoed with that incident.

The company just announced that it has “donated its first million pair of kids’ shoes through its BOBS from SKECHERS program, which gives a new pair to a child in need for every BOBS footwear purchase.” Those shoes will be finding the feet of kids in the U.S., Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

The BOBS sub-brand, which already mimics philanthropic brand TOMS in name, logo and shoe design, is clearly taking a cue from TOMS' "One For One" mission, which donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased.

That clearly doesn't bother celebrity ambassador Brooke Burke-Charvet, the co-host of Dancing With the Stars, who trades her Skecher Shape-ups "toning shoes" for BOBS for the photo opp.Continue reading...

The Federal Trade Commission announced today that Skechers has agreed to pay $40 million to settle false advertising charges that, as to USA Today puts it, "mislead consumers with claims that its toning sneakers would do everything from help them lose weight to make their 'bottom half their better half' without ever going to a gym."

The settlement, which will be used to provide refunds to buyers of Shape-ups and other Skechers toning sneakers, is believed to be the FTC's largest ever involving consumer refunds, David Vladeck, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, told USA Today.

“Skechers’ unfounded claims went beyond stronger and more toned muscles. The company even made claims about weight loss and cardiovascular health,” stated Vladeck in a press release. “The FTC’s message, for Skechers and other national advertisers, is to shape up your substantiation or tone down your claims.”

The announcement follows Reebok's $25 million settlement in September following similar FTC charges regarding its toning shoe marketing claims. Skecher's settlement was larger than Reebok's, Vladeck told USA Today, because it has a bigger slice of U.S. market share for toning sneakers. Skechers' toning shoes were promoted with celebrity endorsements by Brooke Burke, Joe Montana and Kim Kardashian (in a 2011 Super Bowl commercial).Continue reading...

Strange bedfellows, but sweet promise from DBG, Mindshare Entertainment, and Unilever’s I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! brand.

Toast to the Red Carpet LIVE! is billed as a first-of-its-kind web show that will stream live during the Oscars ceremony on Sunday, February 26th on UsWeekly.com, and the brand's Facebook page starting at 6:00pm EST.

Celebrity panelists include a quartet of TV personalities — dancer/model Brooke Burke, model/actress Molly Sims, fashion commentator (and former Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) Carson Kressley and cookbook author Katie Lee — all dishing on celebrity fashion and up-to-the-minute red carpet coverage.Continue reading...

Procter & Gamble’s Febreze air fresheners just joined the billion-dollar brand club. It’s the 24th P&G brand to reach $1 billion in annual sales, an elite club that includes Pampers, Tide and Pantene — the mainstays of 70% of the company’s sales yielding $79 billion last year.

Febreze’s success may come as something of a surprise (especially if you go by the somewhat geeky campaign above) in a cash-challenged consumer environment where purchases of more expensive detergent, shampoo and even toilet paper are generally down — unless you're paying attention to moms who blog and exchange tips on social media.Continue reading...

Not even the semi-catatonic ramblings of the second man on the Moon were enough to dampen viewer enthusiasm for Dancing with the Stars in Monday night’s premiere showing of the long-running ABC hit reality program. The show debuted with its best opening-night viewership numbers ever, with a Nielsen-preliminary 23.9 million viewers.

In the opener, it immediately seemed ill advised to include 80-year-old former astronaut Buzz Aldrin among the stars, as he could barely move on the dance floor and his few comments were nearly unintelligible. Dancing’s last octogenarian, Cloris Leachman, at least was an actress with stage presence and a sharp wit.

But the other elements that ABC introduced and tweaked for this 10th season of Dancing all seemed to work nicely, improving the show – and portending continued robust ratings when it returns next week.Continue reading...