You may laugh at these shoes. It's called CROCS (little crocodile). It's a bit ugly.

You may be familiar with these shoes, because they are the hottest plastic shoes in Chengdu in the whole 08 summers.

These shoes are so attractive that many families of three are all dressed up to go shopping.

This pair of shoes has another side you don't know. Children should be especially careful when they use it.

The trend of "little crocodiles"

The small crocodile, as the name suggests, is the trademark of a shoe. It is a "small crocodile". The brand name CROCS is also the meaning of "crocodile", which is dubbed "the ugliest shoes in the world". It can be seen everywhere in the north and south, or by the popularity of the stars and the comfort of the shoe itself.

America takes the lead

This CROCS shoe, dubbed "the ugliest big shoe", was originally developed and produced by Canada's "Foam Creations" company.

CROCS shoes are made of special plastics. They are lightweight, skid proof, wear resistant, scratch resistant, very suitable for outdoor sports.

In November 2002, on the Fort Lauderdale International, CROCS launched its first shoe, "CROCS Beach", which became popular and sold 1000 pairs at the exhibition in Lauderdale.

Though not widely publicized, the reputation of CROCS shoes has spread like wildfire, and has rapidly spread around the United States and other parts of the world.

This is due to the unique design experience of CROCS shoes that are comfortable, light and bright colors, and the popular pursuit of celebrities.

In many of the Hollywood stars captured by paparazzi, everyone saw their CROCS on their feet. Later, even President Bush of the United States became an advertising star for free. He was photographed wearing black stockings on CROCS. He was immediately ridiculed by many fashion people on the Internet, calling it "fashion disaster".

Then CROCS got the new nomination of "presidential shoes".

In June 2004, CROCS acquired Canada's "Foam Creations" company and acquired the special material of this CROCS shoe (known as "little crocodile plastic", the original English name is "croslite").

Chengdu is very hot this year.

CROCS's special counter in Chengdu started last year, and before that there were fashion designers who brought these shoes from abroad.

Last year, the Chengdu people were still unacceptable to the seemingly strange "big shoe". There were sporadic people in the street wearing such shoes, but there were not many people who tried to attract them.

Because of the constant pursuit of the tide people and the high comfort of their shoes, they are skid resistant, soft and even stench free. They are also stylish with a casual outfit. Many people who go to the seaside also like to wear CROCS to play with water, which is more convenient and more comfortable than ordinary slippers.

In the streets of Chengdu, "CROCS" has been everywhere, and the associated products are also popular, including the accessories LOGO that can be installed on the shoes, mobile phone bags, bracelets and so on. They are hot products because of their bright colors and unique shapes.

Nowadays, there are even many cheap imitation shoes on the Internet.

This type of imitation shoes is not croslite but ordinary plastics because of its material, and it has no comfort, skid resistance and so on.

For many Chengdu people, having a pair of CROCS (little crocodile) plastic shoes seems to be the best choice this summer. Many people are obsessed with CROCS's gorgeous colors and unique shapes, and even pursue the effect of buying imitation products online.

This colourful "ugly shoe" has been on the market for a long time, but in Chengdu this summer is particularly hot.

But what you may not know is that in foreign countries, CROCS's soft material type plastic shoes caused many complaints and disputes over the design of CROCS due to the fact that many children who had been wearing these shoes had been injured on escalators.

Controversy 1

The shoes are too soft and slippery to get involved in escalators.

According to the guardian, the Japanese side has called on CROCS manufacturers to improve their footwear materials and overall design because of accidents such as CROCS and other rubber and plastic footwear products.

It is reported that there have been a series of injuries in Japan wearing CROCS.

Most of the children were children, and the injuries were caused by toe injuries, foot injuries or toenail injuries when the shoes were stuck between the cracks on the escalator.

According to statistics, during the peak period of sales of CROCS shoes from June to November last year, there were 65 accidents related to light plastic shoes, including CROCS.

Tests provided by the Japan National Science and technology metrology institute show that most of the shoes made of polyethylene resin are too soft and skid proof, so they are easy to sink deeply in the mobile escalator and other pmission devices, which lead to the children's instep being involved in escalators.

The Japanese government has informed stations and department stores of warning signs to remind consumers, especially those wearing such shoes, to guard against injuries when taking escalators.

According to the US ABC NEWS, the Washington Metro system has posted relevant warning advertisements at escalators and other facilities.

Last year in Singapore, a two year old girl wearing rubber shoes was also caught in the escalator, and her big toe was torn away by elevator.

In June last year, a 3 year old boy wearing a CROCS caused a deep cut in the American Atlanta Airport because he was pinching his toe with the escalator.

Two of the seven escalator accidents occurred last year at the airport were related to CROCS.

According to today's US report, some schools have even banned students from wearing shoes of this type because they are worried about the school's responsibility for accidents.

As for adults, cases that have not yet been seen in the media indicate that such accidents will happen in adults.

Controversy 2

Shoes with too soft material are not suitable for young children.

Japan's Yi Shu Dan's "Shu foot consultant" Dongshan Hejin interviewed the newspaper reporters in Chengdu to interview children's shoes. When choosing children's shoes, they should pay special attention to the materials such as the front palm, heel and other parts. Too soft shoes on the front part are not conducive to children's foot development, and then fail to protect the feet.

Wearing shoes that are not suitable for children for a long time can cause children to develop foot defects or some foot diseases.

Parents who do not know anything about escalators in Chengdu

Reporters at the department store in Chengdu saw a continuous stream of customers at the CROCS counter, and many parents were buying colorful shoes for their children in addition to the fashionable young people.

According to the salesperson of the special store, no matter children or adults, sales have been good recently, and the highest sales volume can even reach more than 100 pairs a day.

With the advent of the peak season, the counters also have many new models for children. The cartoon characters on the shoes are very popular with children.

A mother who bought CROCS with her daughter said she bought a pair for her daughter last year and added a pair of red shoes this year.

The reporter interviewed a pair of parents who plan to buy CROCS for their son. The parents told reporters: "I haven't heard of this brand before, because I feel comfortable to wear, so I want to buy a pair for my child."

The parents were surprised to say that they did not know about escalator accidents in children wearing CROCS in foreign countries.

Reporters also saw children with colorful CROCS shoes walking around the escalator on their parents' eyes.

Not only is CROCS such a soft soft footwear, but on the Internet, the reporter saw the warning signs of the escalator, including many soft shoes, including CROCS, as a list of easy to encounter "escalator accident warning".

Besides the CROCS, there are slippers, sandals and even soft sports shoes.

Most of the escalators in shopping malls in Chengdu have safety warning signs or broadcasts, but they are far from careful enough to notice customers' safety at foot.

Because according to the reporter, so far, Chengdu's shopping malls have not received similar complaints with foreign consumers.

Brand response

CROCS: the reason for the incident is that the user does not use the elevator properly.

CROCS issued a statement at the headquarters of the United States, saying that many escalator accidents in 10 countries, including the United States, were caused by "improper behavior of escalator users", rather than the problem of shoes themselves.

Correspondents contacted the CROCS China company, and the brand PR company said in a reply email: "the recent safety report on escalators in Japan is mainly due to improper use of escalators by consumers."

The company said that the Chinese market did not receive such complaints.

The e-mail also said: "escalator safety is a problem that has been taken seriously for a long time. We actively support public education in order to better inform consumers about elevator safety and their steps to take the elevator."

However, the brand side did not make a clear statement on whether to sell the "potential threat" or to issue a warning sign when selling.

The message also stressed: "this report (the guardian") is about escalator safety.

We are committed to improving the quality of products in all aspects, and consumer satisfaction is one of our most important aspects. "

There is news on the Internet that CROCS has already begun to improve the product on this issue, such as a series of children's shoes are designed to be more thick, while another sandal called motion has cancelled the front end of the front end of the shoe to protect the toes better, but this rate has not been confirmed by the brand.