Skechers Pulls Shoes Ahead of Ad Industry Review

Company may have seen the writing on the wall

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Skechers, the fitness shoemaker that just agreed to a $40 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over deceptive advertising charges, quietly pulled its toning shoe for girls from its product line.

Sometime while under investigation by the Children's Advertising Review Unit—and likely considering the FTC's $25 million settlement last September with Reebok over claims of false advertising for its toning shoes—Skechers stopped selling Active Club Shape-Ups for girls.

CARU this morning released the findings of a yearlong investigation that Skechers ads and packaging for the girls' toning shoes was misleading and implied the product would make a girl more popular and more fit.

The cartoon ad for the girls' toning shoes, which ran on TV nets such as Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, featured HyDee, an attractive, tall, slim teen who sings and dances to a jingle: "HyDee's got new Shape-Ups.

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