Sketchers Acting Sketchy

Toms and Bobs from Sketchers provide two similar shoe products. Not only are these products similar in appearance but also with the same social and ethical benefits from purchasing a pair of shoes. Both companies provide the incentive of giving a pair of shoes for a child in a developing country with each purchase of their shoes.

As commented in Sara Chitsaz’s blog there is much controversy whether Sketchers lacks these so called ethics they are promoting, as Bobs were introduced six years after Toms had been created. Sara comments Sketchers is in fact lacking ethics, as they produced shoes with a striking resemblance to Toms. She also argues that if Sketchers were truly socially responsible they could have offered to donate shoes with any of their other products. There is no need to only offer this service with shoes that look like Toms.

I agree with Sara. Sketchers is clearly not a company focused on social responsibility but more so on capitalizing on profits. This is evident by their exploitation of the Toms design and business strategy. Sketchers had clearly seen the profits Tom’s been generating and modeled shoes that rival the comfort and affordability Toms offers, as well as providing an opportunity to be socially responsible. Sketchers was founded in 1992 and has had 14 years to focus on corporate social responsibility but choose only to do so when it saw the need to match up with the success of its competitors. Overall nothing is ethical about Sketchers, as they are merely another large corporation attempting to create a competitive advantage.