Review: Moon Shoes

Moon Shoes are a sudden craze that has been slowly making its way into the toy scene. Immediately upon seeing the ad from Hart Toys (including the picture shown here), I immediately knew this was a bad idea.

Though carefully worded to avoid “false” claims, the advertisement was clearly misleading, as way the high flying picture that was shown.

But LatteGirl persisted.  She wanted them.  And to top it off she wanted to use the money that she had saved as part of her allowance that we allow her to spend “any way she wants” to do it.

I tried talking her out of it, I even tried explaining (though I suspect she wasn’t listening at this point) that not everything you see in an ad is exactly true.  But she continued on with the whole “I am supposed to be able to buy what I want if I save this money.”  So, rather than “forbidding” her from buying them, I opted to teach her a lesson in advertising and allowed her to make her own decision and purchase the shoes.

Fast forward a couple of weeks later the shoes arrive.  Huge Plastic Shoe Box sized “boots” with elastic bands that connect to a shoe that you strap to your feet.  She excitedly waited as I put them together, put them on her feet, and allowed her to jump.

Clunk… Clunk… Clunk.

She sounded like an elephant bounding around the deck.  Struggling to get any height out of this heavy plastic boots, and then having to strain to keep her balance as the bands wobbled back to a standstill.  They were (no surprise here) a great disappointment to her, and for me, even worse than I had imagined.  Your child binds themselves to these shoes with hard nylon velcro that is fairly secure.  Possibly too secure.  I could see if a fall happened the wrong way an ankle being broken in them.

She queried me as to why they “weren’t working” since the ad said she would get “50% more height in her jumps” and I pointed out that her jumps probably were 50% higher since she was starting about 5″ higher off the ground (the height of the shoe).  She said that wasn’t “fair” and that she felt like she was “lied to.”  Naturally, at that point I once again tried to explain to her that advertising is designed to sell a product, and that you have to really think about what they are saying.

So now I have a couple of plastic shoes sitting in my shed, which who knows if they will ever see the bottom of her feet again (I am doubting it), she is out $24 that she worked hard to save, and of course she is quite disappointed.

When I allowed her to buy them, I though it was a good lesson to teach her.  Now I just feel like an awful dad for not protecting her from the evils of marketing.  (But I guess, I will just have to hope that the lesson “took”)

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