PSA: Crocs aren't just ugly, they're dangerous

Crocs, not unlike Uggs before them, are prime candidates for footware we'd just as well have everyone put back in the closet, especially now that the Japanese National Institute of Technology and Evaluation has apparently issued a public warning regarding the safety of wearing the offensively ugly plastic shoes on escalators. Supposedly some forty people in Japan have been injured wearing the shoes on escalators, including a five year old girl who is said to have lost lost three toenails and suffered a broken toe when her ugly ass shoes got caught in the escalator. Please, Crocs, think of the children -- and everyone else's greater sense of aesthetics.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

[Matthew @ Sep 10th 2007 1:18AM]

:lal: @ Engadget's "fashion sense". :D

[Ellianth @ Sep 10th 2007 9:12AM]

I'm a little confused. Do you think these shoes look nice?

It seems to me that the fashion gods are making a power play. Everyone wears clothes and shoes so why should they be worshiped second? Smite those crocers, smite them them good!

[derX @ Sep 10th 2007 4:25PM]

Yeah, this seems like a fitting punishment.

Your "fashion" choice offends my eyes, you have your feet disfigured, fair, no?

Too bad it had to happen to a kid thought, least we know the kid will raise a non-Croc wearing generation or, at least, will raise a step using population. Either way, is the world not a better place?

[Hami @ Sep 10th 2007 1:22AM]

even though this article isnt technology related...


i love it.

[sc00tert00ter @ Sep 10th 2007 1:24AM]

vans save lives. dont wear crocs

[Anthony @ Sep 10th 2007 1:24AM]

HA ha! It is technology related. The escalator, remember! xD

[Fubar @ Sep 10th 2007 7:33AM]

As they say on the DC Metro... "Toes are neat, so lift your feet!"

(OK, so it's the WMATA saying it, not the riders--but still....)

[J @ Sep 10th 2007 1:25AM]

Is this posted because it's New York Fashion Week?

Not really technology, but it's still intriguing.

[bombastinator @ Sep 10th 2007 1:27AM]

I did hear one thing about these things. Apparently they first found favor in surgical hospitals due to their ability to be put through an autoclave. Personally I think they should have been kept there.

Really all they have to do is roll the toe up a bit and problem solved.

[James @ Sep 10th 2007 1:38AM]

They're being banned at my hospitals because they could potentially drop needles through the holes on the top of the croc.

[raymie @ Sep 10th 2007 1:56AM]

when i went to the hospital a few days ago for a mri i saw like 5 doctors with these ugly ass shoes on

[bombastinator @ Sep 10th 2007 2:23AM]

the needle problem sounds easy to fix. Just glue some leather over the top. You could even only atach it at two opposite sides so it would still breathe. They'd get even uglier though.

[raymie @ Sep 10th 2007 2:57AM]

or you could fill them with jibbitz!!!

http://www2.jibbitz.com/

[Kane @ Sep 10th 2007 3:34AM]

These shoes were on the front page of the British Tabloid 'The Sun' last week under the headline "Crocs Can Kill" due to their ability to produce enough static electricity to seriously damage important hospital equipment. Apparently a country wide ban of the shoes in hospitals was underway.

But they're so damed comfy - i wish they looked better.



(The flip-flops are okay)

[Juaquin @ Sep 10th 2007 5:00AM]

They wear them in surgery because they're easy to clean - I doubt they'd make it through an autoclave though. Blood comes off plastic/rubber with a quick rinse - not so with cloth shoes.

[brian.m.jones @ Sep 10th 2007 8:51AM]

yah my mom has worked in hospitals for 30+ years, news flash needles are sharp and will go through a regular shoe if dropped as well.....people are dumb.

[Brian @ Sep 10th 2007 9:53AM]

Actually, they make a completely closed toe version (no top holes or side vents). Personally, I love my Crocs - I have one pair and my wife and daughter have 3 each.

[dustandechoes91 @ Sep 10th 2007 1:27AM]

i was in the huge mcdonalds in downtown chicago today and they had signs all over saying that crocs werent allowed on the escalators

[LC @ Sep 10th 2007 12:02PM]

How ironic that McDonalds would ban them on escalators seeing as how it's founder was named Croc ;P

[Zach @ Sep 10th 2007 1:27AM]

ack, im glad someone else shares in my disdain for this horrible piles of shit known as Crocs. "But they're so comfortable". So are marshmallows. Wear them.

[Shadyman @ Sep 10th 2007 1:54AM]

But marshmallows wouldn't be safe on elevators.

[raymond @ Sep 10th 2007 1:29AM]

hahahhaahaha i just dont see how its really possible to get hurt wearing these shoes on an escalator

[Will @ Sep 10th 2007 1:31AM]

Sneakers with laces! They'd never get stuck in an escalator!

I personally don't wear crocs, but if you can manage to get your crocs stuck in an escalator, you should be happy that is all that has happened.

[James @ Sep 10th 2007 1:34AM]

I really don't know why people buy those shoes/plastic sandals/POS'

[- @ Sep 10th 2007 2:20AM]

Mostly because they're hypo-allergenic and anti-microbial, they won't stink up like other sandals, perfect for boating.

[pablot @ Sep 10th 2007 1:34AM]

they are banned from hospitals in norway as they have really crappy ESD properties *zap*

[bombastinator @ Sep 10th 2007 2:25AM]

ESD?

[Troy @ Sep 11th 2007 8:59PM]

electro-static discharge

[Rutch @ Sep 10th 2007 1:35AM]

"Listen, not a year goes by, not a year, that I don't hear about some escalator accident involving some bastard kid which could have easily been avoided had some parent - I don't care which one - but some parent conditioned him to fear and respect that escalator!"

[paccoast2010 @ Sep 10th 2007 1:40AM]

Can't ban kids from escalators, though, can we?

Only kids with crocs ; )

[Dan @ Sep 10th 2007 4:41AM]

Ok, Brodie. (Mallrats ftw!)

[coffeepot64 @ Sep 10th 2007 8:02AM]

Having an accident on an escalator does not make a child a bastard. You were a kid once, they can be clumsy, that is no reason to insult them.

[Steve Jobs @ Sep 10th 2007 8:02AM]

Absolutely love the mallrats reference...bravo!! Crocs are ugly, you want comfy shoes buy a pair of reef sandals.

[Rutch @ Sep 10th 2007 2:53PM]

coffeepot64, settle down, it's a quote from the movie Mallrats (like a few people already recognized) Put the coffee down, take a deep breath ;^)

"Ha ha ha ha. You dumb bastard. It's not a schooner... it's a sailboat!"
"A schooner IS a sailboat, stupid head!"

[D. A. @ Sep 10th 2007 1:40AM]

I don't understant how they are more dangerous than regular flip-flops (they actually seem safer). Did someone looked at issues with flip-flops on escalators??
Anyway, I agree they are ugly... but I believe part of the atraction (besides comfort and antibacterial) is how inaesthetic they are...

[Megan @ Sep 10th 2007 1:43AM]

Thats sad about the little kid. Crocs weren't originally made for everyday wear. They were originally for water sports like canoing and kayaking.

[Fruition @ Sep 10th 2007 1:43AM]

I think the escalators have better footwear fashions sense than these people... The escalators just have a very aggressive way of sharing their opinions.

[nschively @ Sep 10th 2007 12:09PM]

I, for one, welcome our new escalator overlords.

[John Cavanagh @ Sep 10th 2007 1:53AM]

That kid is on the escalator again!

Seriously though, I've seen entirely too many people wearing these things. They all swear they are the most comfortable shoe they have ever owned...I used to say that about shoes too...until a week later they're not so great anymore. What's more is that I've noticed many parents buy these for their kids and get the 800 sizes too large, which I'm fairly certain isn't good for you.

[Yubastard @ Sep 10th 2007 2:26PM]

jajaja LMAO!!

[anderesp @ Sep 10th 2007 1:55AM]

those people with crocs deserve to get caught on escalators.



haha.... jk.

or am i?

[Robert Elsinga @ Sep 10th 2007 1:56AM]

=8-)

[pr_master @ Sep 10th 2007 2:00AM]

they are dangerous because the
plastic they are made with. I also think
they are ugly but i still have one pair
but i just use it in my house. so comfortable.

[ronin @ Sep 10th 2007 2:05AM]

"An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. You would never see an "Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order" sign, just "Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience."

gotta love 'em.

[mynamestaken77 @ Sep 10th 2007 2:07AM]

Everyone knows the only real shoes are moccasins. Those 'injians were really on to something

[Mike V. @ Sep 10th 2007 2:14AM]

You guys will hate me for this, but there is something far worse than Crocs or Uggs. You know what it is? CRUGGS!

The unholy alliance of Crocs and Uggs have revealed themeselves...and the fashion world just got more crappy.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/25/cruggs.html

Seriously, they are horrendous!

[Yubastard @ Sep 10th 2007 2:26PM]

true, true

I love mine, but they're so damn ugly I wouldn't use them for anything that needs long pants... malls are ok, tho'

[Jason @ Sep 10th 2007 2:31AM]

i love escalators for this reason alone.

[kman79 @ Sep 10th 2007 2:54AM]

I work at a Children's Hospital, and we've had two kids whose feet have been critically injured as a result of wearing these shoes. They got caught in the escalators and I'm sure you can imagine as to what happened their feet.

[tchiseen @ Sep 10th 2007 3:15AM]

if only ugly things could get banned.... *dreamz*