TOMS Day w/o Shoes - Farce? And did you participate?

Hi all,

Really...wanted to join in but very cold and rainy in S Ontario.

So, is TOMS really advocating the whole barefoot movement...or is it all about their shoes/donations?

Is it good publicity for barefooters?

What the poster's thoughts?

 

Well at the very least you made me go and see what TOMS is, 'cause I had no idea
Anyway, yeah most of these types of charity or shock protest events are about grabbing attention. By doing something unusual like removing shoes for a specific cause does just that, it's attention grabbing and trying to be a little profound. I think it does no more for barefooters than burning bras (1960's protest against opression of women) did for those who went regularly without a bra.


Shayla x

 

and how about 365 days without shoes---LET'S GO FOR REAL POVERTY---none of this silly bourgeois pretend nonsense!

 

My feeling was if somebody asked me THAT question I had an answer they didn't expect.

 

the whole TOMS thing is bullshit! It simply reinforces the prejudice that barefoot living equals poverty! Next thing Nike will be sponsoring it, so all these African kids will be wearing them!

 

In AmeriKa, almost every "goodwill" gesture is bullshit.

"In America, the left bleeds too much. The right doesn't bleed enough."---Jean-Luc Godard

The rest is (not silence)...MARKETING.

Just for relevance: go barefoot!

 

Still liked having a different, and somewhat confusing answer to......why don't you have any shoes. Causes more headscratching and def less confrontation. And its only good for one day so why not go with it?

 

I try to go barefoot as much as I can. I just like not wearing shoes!!

 

I think the entire TOM's thing just reinforces the idea that feet need shoes. Most of the people in these countries have stronger, healthier feet than Americans do because they are barefoot. If people really want to play the solidarity card then why not say three months without shoes rather than one day. It probably would not even take that long. I bet many of these people would get so use to going barefoot that they will not want to wear shoes again. All one day does is let people see that they miss shoes, which is what TOM's is trying to market anyway.

 

I own a pair of Flossys, which in effect, is pretty much the same type of shoe as Toms.

If I'm correct, Flossys are a Spanish import, which have risen to prominence, in terms of their popularity, here in the UK since I regularly see people wearing them.

However, despite their thin sole (approx. 8mm), which still allows one to feel things underfoot, I find them uncomfortable when I have them on my feet and cannot wait for the opportunity to free my feet from their confines.

I'll usually wear them to work, on a weekend, since it allows me the opportunity to kick them off soon after my arrival, thus, spending my time wandering around the office in my bare feet.

 

I'm all in favour of raising money for people in need, no doubt about it. But don't agree with this concept. Seems to be like you have to punish yourself for a day just to see how awful it is to have no shoes (the ultimate sign of poverty). Pix I've seen on the net of this event in previous years seem to show people suffering because they're being barefoot for a day, and would much rather be in their Nikes. Bollox!

 

I always love how "journalists" almost never question this kind of claptrap. But then you get, "The hidden danger in your home (school) (street) (garage), to your children (pet) (grandma) (bff)," blah, blah, blah..."See our hard hitting investigative report on the News at 11 next Friday." And it's the Sunday before. If they really cared about us, shouldn't they be telling us now? What if someone died of this alleged danger in the meantime?:hide: