Bottom Line: Toning Shoes or Baloney Shoes?

Reebok's EasyTone sneakers line, known for its slightly risque ads on TV, print, and billboards such as Kelly Brooks' nude roadside attraction in the U.K. (also critiqued for Photoshopping her assets) is expanding to the rest of the body.

EasyTone will introduce t-shirts, pants, shorts and capris in November that, like the shoes, promise to boost women's gym workouts, and results … just by slipping into them.  you will improve your alignment, flexibility and posture!

Naturally, the Adidas-owned sports apparel brand will be stepping carefully, as regulators and consumer watchdogs are watching the category's body-changing claims.
 
Projections are that the quick-fix exercise-toning shoe market will grow to $1.5 billion this year – the fastest-growing segment in a sluggish athletic shoe market. But increasingly, both advertising about these instant toning shoes and the sneakers themselves are coming under scrutiny.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) recently examined Reebok's EasyTone, Skechers Shape-Ups, and MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology), and its study found the results were pretty much marketing malarkey. ACE's bottom line: "There is simply no evidence to support the claims that these shoes will help wearers exercise more intensely, burn more calories or improve muscle strength and tone."

When Reebok, a unit of Adidas, first released the EasyTone in 2009, it quickly became the company’s most successful new product in at least five years.

It was soon revealed, however, that the claim of muscle toning was ‘backed by a single study involving just five people.’ As the New York Times reports, the study was five women walking on treadmills for 500 steps in EasyTone’s or another Reebok walking shoe conducted at the University of Delaware. Results did show an increase in the working of the gluteal, hamstring and calf muscles.

Bill McInnis, Reebok’s head of advanced innovation, “said the size of the study was adequate to determine the effect of the shoe and added that exercise studies of this nature commonly used small numbers of participants.”

Since then, millions have purchased Reebok's EasyTone at $100 a pair or others like MBT’s pricier $245. But according to NPD research group, consumers are skeptical of the performance claims.

Market leader Nike is leveraging the growing skepticism and marketing its new Training One women's shoe, as "The Ultimate Quick Fix," which "is not a magical toning shoe," but rather, "This shoe works if you do."

Cue the new EasyTone clothing, which Reebok will soon be selling at Lady Foot Locker, Nordstrom, and Dick's Sporting Goods.

The television ads for the campaign come from DDB. "Our ads will be fun, bold and provocative, showing what our toning products do in an entertaining way," John Lynch, Reebok's head of U.S. marketing and merchandising, told Marketing Daily.

"We fully stand behind our technology to deliver a state-of-the-art toning experience for our consumers. Our toning footwear and apparel collections have been fully tested both in our Human Performance Engineering Lab as well as through hundreds of hours of wear testing," continues Lynch.

So "If the shoe fits, wear it," has become "If the clothes fit, grin and bare it?"