Holly+T's+Op-Ed+Article



Sketchers Shape Ups-A sick joke

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Shape-ups. Just don’t do it. Don’t buy them. Don’t give in like all the other hopeless women seeking an easy way to get skinny. Trust me, they aren’t magical and they weren’t made by the most brilliant doctors or biomechanical engineers. Yes they come with a pamphlet gloating their “high-end technology” and ability to “get you in shape without stepping foot in the gym”, but really they are just Sketchers walking shoes with a whole lot of extra padding. It’s hilarious watching women (or even those poor men sometimes) walking with a new found “swag” in their shape-ups. Feeling that “bounce”! Hah I goggle. Wearing Shape-ups is like eating a Go-Gurt for breakfast. It’s something that makes you feel healthy, without actually doing anything to your benefit. Shape-ups are an excuse not to work out, because you will still get in shape. Go-Gurts are an excuse to eat a cookie at lunch, because you had a healthy breakfast. Well, Shape-ups won’t do a thing unless you do some physical exercise. I’m sure it says that somewhere in the fine print. And did you know Go-Gurts have more sugar in them than Coke? Now that’s a healthy breakfast. So come on now, obviously with Go-Gurts and Shape-ups you’ll have that bikini body in no time right?! Again I goggle.

In February 2011, a lady from Ohio sued Shape-ups. Embarrassingly for me, her name was Holly. She blamed the shoes for causing stress-fractures in both her hips. She claimed she was “catastrophically injured” from extensively wearing the shoes. Well this girl must have either been looking for a chance to sue someone or was just plain stupid. Obviously since the shoes are all designed the same way, and people have a wide variety of foot alignments, the shoes are likely to change your gait. A flaw of all general specialty shoes. I mean, come on! If your hips start to hurt then take the shoes off! If you desperately want to get in shape then put on some comfortable shoes and go for a jog and do some situps! Shape-ups are just an embarrassment to society. Besides the issues regarding the consumers, the shoes are just plain ugly. To me, everything about them is a sick joke. I laugh in utter shock.