Daddy’$ Money Sneakers Are For Your Teen Who Loves Swag And Sexism!
Have all you daddies out there been bombarded with your daughters begging you for the hot new sneaker trend by Sketchers which includes dayglo animal prints, a secret 2-inch wedge heel, and enough blatantly sexist advertising to make you hurl? You may have if your daughter watches MTV and the kid’s channel The Hub!
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So yeah, the fishnets under the torn shorts, the heavily glossed lips in a babydoll pout, this is wrong on so many levels, but then add it the blatant sexism of the shoe name and it’s really hard to believe that this product and the marketing behind it isn’t just some parody. But it’s not! This is real life! In the year 2013!
From Babble.com:
The line of shoe/sneaker/fresh hell is called ”Daddy’$” because obviously moms don’t ever make the money, right?
With over half of our nation’s mothers working, it’s hard to believe that Sketcher’s thought it a smart move to name their new line of “fashion” sneaker’s Daddy’$ Money, when it’s just as likely it is Mommy’$ Money that goes towards buying shoes for a kid. Unless, of course, Daddy doesn’t mean “Daddy” as in the parental “Daddy” and Daddy actually means “Sugar Daddy” and these shoes are in fact not marketed to average 7th graders, but to you know, 7th graders who have Sugar Daddies who supply them with swag kicks and money-fans like the girl in the above commercial.
Sketcher’s made a statement to ABC News saying:
”The Daddy’s Money name and the collection’s advertising are designed to be fun and lighthearted,” the company said. ”We regret that some people have been offended by the name.”
Because nothing is more “fun” and “lighthearted” than sending the direct message to young girls that “Don’t worry about being able to buy these ugly sneakers yourself, just get yourself a “Daddy” to buy them for you!”
The ridiculous thing about all of this is that the company could have sold a whole mess of sneakers had they taken out the stupid secret wedge lift, because yeah, I can speak for a lot of parents when I say that we are fine with our daughters being the height they actually are, and naming the shoes something empowering and kickass to young girls. Take the scantily dressed, heavily made-up models out of the commercial, show them doing something like studying or walking dogs or doing volunteer work or even just hanging out together, and send the message that your sneakers are for girls who can do and be anything they want. Hell, they could even add some swag to it by using words like “gurl” or other pop culture catch phrases and as long as the message was the truth I would have happily bought them for my own daughter. And that truth is that our girls don’t have to rely on a Daddy of any sort to buy them anything, they are capable of making money or doing anything else they want without the help of any sort of man. Yeah, up until a certain age they do rely on Daddy’s and Mommy’s money to buy them necessities like food, and clothing and shoes, but sending the message to young girls that they have to rely on a “Daddy” to get them stuff is rampant sexism at its worst. It’s not “fun” or “lighthearted.” It’s blatantly offensive.
(image: Sketchers)
