I hate Crocs in the new year

Today, the local paper known as the Daily News published a year-end round up of various things to do with lifestyle and other such things. Included were Crocs. And us. I don't normally read the Daily News, but I was having breakfast with my friend Jasmine and she picked up the paper because a picture of Crocs were on the cover and she wanted to make fun of me. She opened it up and said, "You're in here. You know you're in here, right?" She showed me the little blurb and I was like, "Hm. Neither Kate nor I go to Dalhousie. Whatever."

happy merry christmas

Happy Merry Christmas or other wintertime holiday, everyone. Hope it is perfectly devoid of Crocs.

Kate Leth and I have personal websites, did you know? Kate has recently revamped hers.


Kate Leth Dot Com


Vincenzo Ravina Dot Com

just pictures

How about just pictures for a change? Most of these pictures have already been posted, but never all in one post! Click on them to make them bigger and, you know, legible.

down to brass tacks: crocs getting skunked

The above is Michelle, a true heroine, wearing one of our bags. It looks pretty cool! I have never actually seen one of our products in real life. 'Cause, I don't know, if I ordered one for myself, it would be like a band wearing their own t-shirt, you know? It wouldn't be cool at all. But it looks totally awesome! That bag and other stuff is available at the shop, which you can get to by clicking HERE.

Anyway, down to brass tacks: I've been really busy with school (exams) and we've been renovating the manor because we decided that the library wasn't big enough and as a result, I haven't posted much recently. We've knocked down a few walls and expanded into the gardens, so it should work out just fine. We might have to nix the helipad, is all.

Posting also occurs less frequently this time of year because Crocs don't come out much in the wintertime. And hopefully this winter will be the one that finally rids us of them permanently.

Here are an email that recently came off the ticker tape machine:

I started a website after I received the formal in writing go ahead to start Logo Crocs Dot Com. I thought I would get a ton of hits and sell imprinted crocs. Well I just received a fancy attorney letter that they have changed their policy. I hate crocs also.

Penny Fleming

Strange how websites that might actually make Crocs some money are being shut down by Crocs while we have been going strong for quite a while now. This is Little Rubber Shoes Dot Com all over again.

An email from Mary Bradshaw:

to, stupid croc hater

you are sooooooooo stupid for not liking crocs. me and one friend want to informaion about your STOOPID evil videos!!!!!!

from,croc lover

ps, GET A LIFE!!!!

Rarely have so few words made less sense.

Steve Tuttle recently send us this picture:

crocs stock plummets

It has come to our attention that Crocs stock has taken a significant decline. This is good news. Apparently this is because Maddox holds sway. HERE is the article he wrote about how much Crocs suck. Enjoy. That was a link at the beginning of that sentence, by the way. The all-caps word 'HERE'. That was a link.

An email from puddle-37108:

You website states, "According to THIS clip from the Daily Show, "If [someone is] wearing Crocs, they are soliciting incredibly depraved gay sex." The Daily Show is America's finest news source. You take it up with them."

Well, aside from having the opinion that the Daily Show and news source should never be used in the same sentence, I went to their website and searched their archives - nope, not one mention of Crocs anywhere. Unless you can substantiate your supposed quote you should remove it from your site.

My reply:

Dear puddle,

Thanks for writing.

Your email states, "I went to their website and searched their archives - nope, not one mention of Crocs anywhere." Boy, what a zinger.

Here's a thought: did you ever think about watching the video we LINKED? You know, by clicking on the all-caps word "this"? Wasn't subtle enough for you? Do you know how to use the Internet, at all? You figured out how to search the archive but not how to watch the clip? If you don't know how to use your computer, you should have it removed from your home.

I'll go over it slowly now. Remember when it said, "According to THIS clip from the Daily Show" on our website? That's your cue to read till the end of the sentence and then remember there was a link at the beginning of it. So then you clip on the link, right? But when you get to the Daily Show website, you don't search the archive! No. You WATCH THE VIDEO WE LINKED YOU TO. Give it a shot. Let me know if you need more help. I know how confusing the internet is.

Thanks for the email. Please never write us again.

-Vincenzo

I was annoyed that day.

baltimore sun article

The following are the bits of the Baltimore Sun article in which IHATECROCS is written about. We took up quite a bit more space in the article than I had anticipated. Also, she misspelled Kate's last name. But, I am quite pleased that this is the first time that a journalist has mentioned Matt's name. I've been telling that anecdote for every single interview and finally Matt's name got in.

A young woman waits demurely in a stark room. Before her on a table sit scissors and one half of a pair of Crocs.

For the next two minutes and 35 seconds, as a jaunty Cole Porter score plays, she takes scissors to shoe, shredding the rubbery yellow thing into sad little slivers. The slivers she pulverizes in a blender.

A smile never leaves her face.

The dismemberment, enjoyed by more then 60,000 people on YouTube, comes compliments of the folks behind Ihatecrocs.com, an Internet site dedicated to the elimination of Crocs and those who think that their excuses for wearing them are viable.

Though that mission is failing miserably -- sales of the pliable, holey, cloggish Crocs are as relentless as their fans evangelistic -- Crocs haters remain convinced of the shoe's in-your-face obnoxiousness. They want to cut them to pieces, burn them and feed them to woodchippers.

Woodchippers?

***

"They repulse me," says Vincenzo Ravina, who founded Ihatecrocs.com with his friend Kate Leth, the happy snipper. "They are to your eyes what secondhand smoke is to your lungs."

Cancerous?

Ravina's Web site tops 1,000 hits a day.

His products -- including the $17 T-shirt with the slogan "Friends Don't Let Friends Wear Crocs" -- have found devotees internationally.

***

Like many haters, ihatecrocs.com founder Vincenzo's aversion grew from feelings of helplessness -- he felt as if he had lost control.

One day "the weird kid" in class showed up with Crocs. Vincenzo snickered disparagingly with his friend, Matt. Two weeks later, Matt got a pair.

"And his girlfriend. And all my other friends," the Canadian college sophomore says. "I'm looking around and going, 'What's changed?'"

***

All Vincenzo knows for sure is that he'd love to stick a few pairs in a woodchipper -- if only it weren't so expensive to rent one.

Instead he's chewing over the idea of laying a Croc or two on the tracks before a speeding train.

"Like Snidely Whiplash," he says with undeniable enthusiasm.

In the meantime, he promises not to slip, like so many others, over to the Croc side. Even if they are anti-bacterial. Even if they do come in lavender. Even if they are as comfortable as people say.

"The comfort level required to overlook their extreme ugliness would have to be amazing," he says. "They would have to be like walking on a cloud."

Full article is HERE.

Also, we got an email in reference to the article that incensed me a bit. Here is the email and my subsequent response:

I just read the interview in the Baltimore Sun and then went to your website.

Wow... you guys are HARD-CORE!! If you guys focused your efforts on world hunger, everyone on the planet would have three square meals a day! Too bad you're obsessed with plastic shoes.

Maybe you should learn a trade instead of trying to call yourself a journalist. If all you can focus on is plastic shoes, then you'll be penniless soon.

Who's next - Nike, Adidas, Puma, Birkenstocks??

Best,
Scott in MD


Dear Scott in MD,

Precisely what do you mean by "trying to call [myself] a journalist"? I mean, I go to a school of journalism, I'm in the Honours program, I've written quite a few articles and I've been published a few times. I take notes constantly and I interview people. Now look up the word "journalism" and then the word "journalist".

Also, I can focus on more than plastic shoes. It just so happens that you visited the site of mine that is all to do with plastic shoes. Perhaps if you were to explore my personal website, you'd get a better idea of my varied focuses. As to your comment that I'll be penniless soon as a result of said focus on plastic shoes, I highly doubt it, as most of my income comes from, you know, working.

As a journalist, I absolutely hate errors of fact. I can't stand when people don't do their research properly. It is so easy. We live in an information age. Use Google. Please write back with more valid arguments or at least better researched ones and then we'll talk. And I do hope that you write back, honestly.

-Vincenzo

I'll keep you posted on his response.

Friends don't let friends wear Crocs

I just spent a good half hour on the telephone with a reporter from the Baltimore Sun. That was the best interview I've ever given. I'm far more comfortable with these things, now. It saddens me that even though the reporter and I had a good conversation and even talked about journalism and writing (the focus of my university studies) for a while, the only quote that will make it into the article probably will be, "Crocs are to your eyes what second-hand smoke is to your lungs." It's a good quote, don't get me wrong. It is why I make a point of saying it in each interview. As a journalist, I know that that quote is the best most succinct way of giving our position in a clever way. It's just that for such a long interview to boiled down so much, it feels like a lot of material was wasted. But this is the way of journalism. It is the iceberg effect. The article is the part of the iceberg protruding above the water. The larger part of the iceberg represents all the work and research and time. She also asked me what other things I hate and I was able to go on at length about Dan Brown. He's such a bad writer.

Anyway. I'm rambling. This isn't my personal website. My personal website is way over here.

Check it out, guys! More pictures:


The pictures in this post are from the lovely Jen of Swindon, England! She says:

I love my t-shirt!!! Wore it out for a meal and drinks and so many people agreed with me!

Thank you so much for providing us with such wonderful pieces of art! :oD And such a great price too.

If you'd like to own your very own t-shirt, you can find them available for purchase in the SHOP.

Also, we recently got an email from an Italian lawyer who claims that Crocs infringe on a patent held by his clients:

I'm an Italian lawyer that represent an Italian company, First Company srl, who produces moulds for footwear.

I write the present one to give you the news I've started a legal action against Crocs Inc. for an illicit imitation of patent.

My client has became owner of the following patent (you can verify on the web):

US 6,439,536 B1 - date of patent: Aug. 27, 2002;

EP 1025970 A2 - date of patent: Aug. 9, 2000.

The above patents concern a new mould for the production of footwears - with side openings - in plastic material called EVA.

The footwears sold with mark Crocs, in particulary the clog type Cayman, are manufactured through the use of an identical mould like the one who has been patented by Gatti & Piccolo srl, and now of ownership of my client.

Well, how about that. I wonder if their claims have any legal basis. Moving on...

Actually that's it. Oh, our Facebook group has hit 800 members. Until next time, keep Croc-blocking.

kate turns 19

Yes, Kate turns 19 today. You guys know Kate. She's the co-founder of this website and posted a whole lot while I was away in Italy/Tunisia/England for five weeks. She's the one cutting up the yellow Croc in our Cuttin' Crocs video? Remember? She's in the burning Crocs video with me? Guys? She's got a tattoo of a cupcake on the back of her neck?

Do you remember her yet? No? Whatever. Anyway, she's 19 today. Awesome, right?

Here is a random assortment of emails:

Ive worked for the company for about a year now and i could not agree with you more. I have to wear them day in and day out and i've never hated anything more than these shoes. I hate having to lie to people and say that I like them. Cause they're just hideous foul beast who shouldn't have existed in the first place. Plus people who buy them are retarded in all sense of the word.
-Jason

UR MEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know what? Doing what you do really stinks. You can stop your cruddy website now. If you don't, do something about it.. Also, You make me the saddest person alive. Crocs RULE! : P
Sicerely,
Spencer Gwakslenshbeild

you people are a freaking joke! This is the dumbest thing to do with ones life that I've ever heard of. What the heck would make people, seemingly intelligent people, create a website such as this "I hate Crocs". Get a freaking life and pursue some worthwhile effort with the time the Lord has given you.

Surely you are putting the world on!!
-Wade

Well, there's not much one can say to the latter two people who emailed us other than "Chill out, guys. It's Kate's birthday."

you can stop emailing us about this article now

Also, just because we've gotten about ten emails about this in the last half hour or so, there's an article about the dangers of Crocs on escalators on the front page of Yahoo. So, check it out! Thanks to everyone who emailed. You know who you are. And you know that you're beautiful.

proliferation

Hi gang.

I'll be updating with less frequency because school has started back up again and, as you may already know, I am a journalism student by day. Yes, I Hate Crocs Dot Com takes up only a sliver of my time. And since winter is coming soon, the Crocs will thankfully be going away. Apologies to those in Australia and other such places, for whom summer is coming.

I was recently at a party trying to get a cork out of a wine bottle without a corkscrew. Anyway, eventually I forced the cork into the bottle and fountain of red wine spurted forth and a couple drops landed on my white shirt. I soaked those parts with water and then put some dish detergent on the spots and then washed away the detergent with water. Which reminds me of this email we got:

Hi I just want to share a story about Crocs that I sent to the company but keeps being returned from there web site. This is something that happened to me this summer.

Hi I have a comment about your croc footwear. I received a pair of crocs for father’s day this year I wear them around the yard while doing chores .And I wear them when I go to the camp. On July 21/07 while at the camp I was wearing my crocs and it was raining all day and I noticed that they were very slippery on the wet deck, a slip here and there. Later that evening I was coming down a grass covered hill and it was still raining. The next thing I was on the ground holding a broken ankle. I am starting to believe that crocs are a dangerous product. I finally got my cast off two weeks ago and still not feeling great. Why would you sell a product that has no traction and that is very slippery when wet? These were purchased at a marine supply store, all these people buying them there to wear on their boats where it is wet most of the time. This seemed to be a great product but I think I may have to do a little more research on this kind of problem with crocs, and decide if I will release my story to all. I would be nervous to wear them again. Your input to this problem would be appreciated. Thanks Kevin

So I can not get a response to this I want to share with every one. I HATE CROCS

Thanks kevin

And there you have it.

Cruggs are horrifying and I liken them to how we are breeding superbugs on account of the proliferation of antibacterial products.

I hate Crocs so much, I bought the t-shirt

Today, we got the following email in our box from our good, good friend Parker. I quite enjoyed reading it and taking a look at the pictures attached! Check it out!

Dear Vincenzo and Kate...

First of all, your shirts are fantastic; my first visit to your site resulted in my purchasing shirts for my sister (who lives in Ann Arbor, MI), my boyfriend, and myself. Washington DC seems to be the unofficial Crocs capital of the world and something needs to be done.

On Friday, I celebrated my birthday with a group of friends and Spencer (the boyfriend) wore his anti-Crocs shirt with pride. Granted, he was denied admission to one establishment (despite his shirt's awesomeness, the bouncer insisted on a collar), but he was showered with compliments all night. I also happen to think he looks damn fine wearing it. I've attached a few photos…Keep up the outstanding work!

Happy birthday, Parker!

Also, a reporter recently asked me to tell them the story of this site's origins and about our t-shirts and why we hate Crocs. I sent them the following:

I first saw Crocs in high school. My friend, Matt, and I saw this other guy wearing them and we thought they were ridiculous. We proceeded to make fun of them amongst ourselves, jokingly saying that the holes were aerodynamic and for speed. We didn't think too much of them because there was only one person in the class wearing them and he was the token weird guy. Anyway, a month or so later, lots of people are wearing them. And then Matt, the very same Matt who made fun of Crocs with me, had his very own pair. The traitor.

Then, I was reading my friend Kate's LiveJournal. Kate was the only friend I had who was as vehemently opposed to Crocs as I was. Everyone else owned them. She wrote an rant about Crocs on her journal and I thought, "I should buy the domain I Hate Crocs Dot Com." So, I did. I told Kate about my purchase and she said, "Dibs on lay-out!" And thus, our beautiful partnership was born.

My t-shirt design was the first in the shop. It was just a yellow Croc with a 'NO' sign over top of it, like on 'No Smoking' signs. Kate designed the ones with scissors, because she is the graphic design genius. She's really quite amazing in her prowess, I think. We made those and the site really just took off on its own. We were getting a lot of hits fairly early on. We started getting noticed by the press and blogs and such pretty soon after. At this point, we've been mentioned in Radar Magazine, Maclean's Magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, Salon, CBC Radio, The Christian Science Monitor and numerous other newspapers, radio stations, magazines and blogs. Kate and I wrote an article for a newspaper, Emirates Today on the subject.

I hate Crocs because they're ugly. They're chunky, luridly coloured and perforated. They are to your eyes what second-hand smoke is to your lungs.

articles of clothing

Maybe you've heard that Crocs is expanding into clothing, apparently using "Crocslite" in that particular arena, as well. This is, of course, crazy. Will people begin wearing Swiss cheese shirts, now? Will Crocs make luridly coloured bathrobes, which people will immediately begin to wear in public? Let's hope not.

As you know, we at IHATECROCS have had a line of apparel since early in this site's inception. We've recently added a few new shirts.



They come in red or dark blue for ladies and red or black for gentlemen. I hope you will enjoy them.

Reminder: the first person to take a photograph of themselves or someone else in one of our t-shirts gets something awesome mailed to them. We know someone out there has both our t-shirts and a camera at their disposal! There are probably hundreds of you! Take a picture, click click, and send it to us!

You can visit the shop HERE.

legal stuff and mid-life crises

On the matter of Crocs, Inc. being a bunch of douches, we recently received an email from "Vincent Vin", who had this to say:

I saw your post at LittleRubberShoes.com and your mention that you feared that Crocs might try to force IHateCrocs.com offline. But in truth, CrocFans.com and your web site are both protected free speech and fair journalistic use of their tradename in the respective domain names. There are a zillion web sites that use Apple and Mac in the domain name and it's not an infringement. Free speech is protected whenever a web site such as MacWorld.com, Apple-Expo.com or MicrosoftReallySucks.com (hypothetical) says whatever they want, so long as it is about facts and opinions and such things as fan comments or negative comments. You CAN legally use a tradename in your domain name so long as you are not pretending to be Crocs or whoever. There is a lot of precedent in matters like this and it was naive of CrocFans.com to cave in out of needless fear. The worst they can get is an injunction to take the domain and that's only if the judge is a total ass. If they go around suing for actual cash damages, they would probably lose and they would cultivate their own bad PR. I personally was interested in Crocs shoes as a vegetarian after seeing a NY Times article but now I would be inclined to decline such a product because the company has no sense of ethics much less a sense of what is legal.

My email to Crocks:
"You have a lot of nerve to be sending cease and desist letters in order to STEAL legitimate fair usage web domain CrocFans.com. And you have no legal ground to stand on except that you have successfully bluffed. I'm going to give you as much bad blog as I can, boycott you forever and use my vegetarian web sites to promote boycott.
- Take your Boss Tweed attitude and go to hell!"

I, for one, hope that Vincent Vin is right. Don't let them take you out, Croc Fans Dot Com! Resist!

Here's an email from Cathy that sounds ridiculous with the possibility of being completed fabricated and unfortunate if not:

Just saw your site and had to add my experience.

Approaching his 60th birthday my husband spied a pair of (urgh) crocs in a local shop in Brighton. Making a beeline for a horrible pair in vomit green he tried them on with a gleeful look like a little boy in his first wellies. How do they look he asked me. Behind my pasted on smile I was screaming silently ARE YOU MAD!!. But against my better judgement I just nodded and they were bought. Three days later he returned from a secret forage for MORE crocs – this time a violent shade of blue and I knew he was lost.

One month later and after 32 years of marriage he declared he needed to go to Thailand to `find himself`. That was 9 months ago and for all I know his horrible revolting crocs are frightening children all over Thailand.

I wonder – are these crocs impregnated with some chemical that activates the latent stupid berk gene in men? All thoughts appreciated.

Let the war continue…

Terrible!

As an aside, I have once again changed Vincenzo Ravina Dot Com. I decided to go old school internet this time, sparse with text and blue links.

Also: the first person to send in a photograph of themselves wearing one of our t-shirts will get something awesome mailed to them. Email your pictures to ihatecrocs@gmail.com.

Also: we were featured on the Unofficial Podcast. I guess this guys makes podcasts for blogs, pretending to be the writer. I'm not sure why he gave us the accent he did, as we are from Atlantic Canada, but whatever.

Our friends over at Croc Fans Dot Com have hit upon legal trouble

Hello, everyone.

You may already know that we here at I Hate Crocs Dot Com like to poke fun at our friends over at Croc Fans Dot Com from time to time. Well, they've hit upon legal trouble and are now located at Little Rubber Shoes Dot Com. Why the domain name change? Because our enemies at Crocs, Inc. have sent them a cease-and-desist and demanded that they transfer the domain name over to them. Yes, they shut down one of their biggest supporters. That's how stupid Crocs, Inc. is.

This, of course, disgusts me. Should I be happy that the antithesis of this site has been taken down a notch? Some of you might think so, but I'm not. I don't much like it. No sir. We don't take kindly to bullying. Anyway, if you liked to visit Croc Fans Dot Com, change your bookmarks now. We wish our friends at Little Rubber Shoes Dot Com lots of luck.

We haven't received a letter from Crocs, Inc. but it could happen any day now.

The post from Little Rubber Shoes Dot Com explaining all of this in greater detail is as follows:

On July 19, 2007, Crocs, Inc. sent a cease and desist letter to our web hosting company which demanded that that they immediately provide the contact information for the registrant of CrocFans.com (me) or immediately transfer the registration of CrocFans.com to Crocs, Inc. If these demands were not agreed to by July 26, 2007, Crocs, Inc. may “pursue all available remedies” including “injunctive relief”.

This letter caused our hosting company BlueHost.com to temporarily suspend our account without any notice to us on July 25th. After speaking with BlueHost.com I was able to get the site back up and live after about 15 hours of being down. At that time I learned of the letter sent to BlueHost.com regarding the CrocFans.com domain and Crocs “demanding” of the ownership transfer of the domain.

I thought why would Crocs, Inc. have a problem with a fan site devoted to their products, brand, and the people who love their products? My initial thought was that this has to be some sort of mistake. After reading the cease and desist letter I noticed that the letter stated that CrocFans.com was being used to “operate a website to sell shoes that are very similar to those sold by Crocs, Inc.”

Well, as many of you know, we have never sold any products on CrocFans.com so I thought that I would pro-actively contact the Crocs, Inc. attorney who sent the letter to my hosting company to clarify this fact.

After leaving a voice mail with the attorney and an initial email helping clarify what the site was and that it did not sell competing products to Crocs the attorney acknowledged that CrocFans.com does not sell Crocs products or products similar to those sold by Crocs.

BUT… went on to say that the use of the Crocs trademark in the domain (CrocFans.com) “could be confusing to consumers as to whether the site is sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Crocs, Inc.” Although they did not demand that we discontinue the content of CrocFans.com and that I was free to continue running the website under a different domain name, they still demanded that I transfer the domain name CrocFans.com over to Crocs, Inc.

Being a diplomatic person, I thought I would show my good faith with the Crocs organization and offered to transfer the domain CrocFans.com over to Crocs, Inc. after what I felt was enough time to do the necessary work to transfer a well established website domain to a brand new domain. After spending 2 years in growing the CrocFans.com website into what it is today with the tens of thousands of visitors to the site every month I offered to transfer the domain by January 1, 2008.

Anyone who has had to move an established website over to a different domain knows this is not something that you can do overnight without loosing all of your traffic. There are many steps necessary to ensure all of the work and effort already put into the site can be saved and transferred over to the new domain. I felt 5 months was the least amount of time it would take to do this transfer given the 2 years it took to build the site.

After sending my offer via email to the Crocs attorney, I felt certain Crocs, Inc. would be understanding and accepting of my offer. CrocFans.com has been one of (if not the biggest) online supporter of their shoes and brand for the last 2 years. We’ve held Crocs contests for people to show their love for Crocs (I paid for the winner’s prize with my own money) and been interviewed supporting Crocs in a New York Times article. I thought this was a fair compromise.

I guess was wrong…

The Crocs, Inc. attorney informed me that Crocs, Inc. was willing to give me 30 days (until September 5, 2007) to complete the transfer of ownership of CrocFans.com to Crocs, Inc.

I have responded by respectfully declining their offer to transfer CrocFans.com over to Crocs, Inc. by September 5, 2007.

Needless to say the whole situation has left a bad taste in my mouth especially since I have spent a significant amount of time creating a site that supports, promotes, and helps further the Crocs brand to a worldly audience. Although I still like the shoes, I am not as impressed with the company and their management of this situation.

So, where does that leave us today?

I have started moving the website over to the new domain LittleRubberShoes.com. You may have noticed this at the top. Before I get a bunch of emails stating that Crocs are not made of rubber, I know, but that was the best I could come up with. If you have better ideas for the new domain please add them in the comments below.

I am working toward fully transferring the site from CrocFans.com to LittleRubberShoes.com by January 1, 2008. It is my hope to have the same amount of traffic to the site by the first of the year as what we were seeing before we made this change.

Undoubtedly, our traffic will take a short-term dip because of this move, but over time we should be back to where we were before. I’ve already seen a dip today where we previously were on the first page of search results on Google for “Crocs”, now I don’t see the site in the first 3 pages.

We need your help. Please update your bookmarks, link to our new site, subscribe to our newsletter, subscribe to our RSS feed and tell your fellow CrocFans where we’ve moved.

We will be announcing a new contest shortly that will hopefully build some excitement around the new domain LittleRubberShoes.com. Stay tuned for more details on this, but expect to see a much bigger and better prize than just one free pair of Crocs like previous contest.

In closing, of this marathon post… it is my hope that companies will start learning how to leverage brand evangelists to their advantage. The companies that can harness the power of brand evangelists will not only build their brand but build it without additional marketing cost.

I read an article today that up until last year Zappos.com had 5 people in their marketing department. They are expecting to do a billion dollars in sales next year. They have focused on providing the best customer satisfaction and letting their customers do their marketing for them. Zappos gets brand evangelism.

The cheapest way to get a new customer is not by you talking about your products (traditional marketing). It is by finding ways to get other people talking about your products.

Brand evangelists have been around for a long time. Traditionally, they could only reach one person at a time. The internet gives your brand evangelists much more power and in some cases the ability to reach thousand if not millions of people. Companies need to work with these people who are your brand evangelists; they are your most valuable marketing resource.

I wonder if our friends over at IHateCrocs.com have received a letter?

palpable anger and ihatecrocs in the christian science monitor

We're in the Christian Science Monitor. You can't tell from the article, but my interview with this reporter was the best I've done. Interviews aren't that easy, I'll have you know. But I'm getting better at them. Also, the reporter asked some good questions. Plus, it is always fun to make a reporter laugh. The parts that mention us:

And on ihatecrocs.com, Vincenzo Ravina and Kate Leth devote an entire website "to the elimination of Crocs and those who think their excuses for wearing them are viable."

Ask Mr. Ravina why he finds Crocs so objectionable, and then take a breath. "They are exceedingly ugly. They are chunky, luridly colored, perforated, and overall, an eyesore," he replies. "They are to your eyes what second-hand smoke is to your lungs."

Ravina, a college student from Halifax, Nova Scotia, scoffs at testaments to the comfort of Crocs. "My bathrobe is comfortable," he says. "But I don't wear it to the supermarket. You have to respect other people's aesthetic."

He and fellow blogger Ms. Leth have clearly struck a chord with their website, which they created a year ago on a whim and now gets at least 1,000 visitors a day. "I didn't expect it to take off the way it did," he says. They also do a brisk business selling T-shirts and buttons, with logos like "Friends don't let friends wear Crocs," and more simply, "I hate Crocs."

***

As long as their popularity persists, devoted Crocs haters say they'll continue with their venom, too. Ravina thinks the fad will soon fade – "look at the Macarena," he says.

HERE is the full article. It's worth a read.

And we've got an email from the lovely Danielle, who knows me in real true life and gives me a ride home from work sometimes:

Today I went to Cirque Du Soleil. Seeing as this was somewhat of a Cultured Event I took the time out of my day to wear some nice clothes, and try to look decent. I wore some nice shoes, they were not crocs. In the time that we were waiting in front of The Metro Center and when the show actually officially started, I saw no less than 10 pairs of Crocs on the feet of those attending the show. Now, I won't even begin to start in on those people who chose to dress as if they were going to soccer practice or had just woken up. What I want to focus on are the twin boys (about age 10 or so) who were wearing dress pants and dress shirts with BLACK CROCS! As well as the old woman who was wearing a nice skirt and blouse... with WHITE CROCS! The best part about the woman with the white Crocs were her jibbits. Those stupid little "decorations" that people stick into the holes of their Crocs in hopes that they will make them a little less hideous, when in fact, all they do is make them look uglier. These jibbits were the epitome of all jibbits, they were the creme du la creme of jibbit-dom! They were very large fake pearls surrounded by a ruffle of gold! So beautiful! They really made the outfit, I tell you... So, you have it here! Crocs have made it into the realm of "dress shoes" all you need is fancy jibbits!

These descriptions make me shudder like few things can. Crocs are ungodly, everyone. Jibbitz, too. Just stop. Please. Come join us and make the world a less ugly place. All of the arguments mentioned in the below post are secondary to the number one concern we have. They make me want to put my eyes out with brooches. Who got that reference?

I hate Crocs so much, I'll make a convincing argument against them.

The I Hate Crocs Facebook group is home to much civil debate and discussion. I'm very pleased by the civil part, but also by the debate and discussion parts. One discussion topic 'Why are Crocs bad?' has a particularly well-argued bit of writing against Crocs. Here is part of Eudora Chua's post:

2) They are bad for the environment. The material they are made out of cannot be recycled or bio-degraded. Years from now when the fad wears off we will have landfills full of the things. Our legacy to the people of the future is going to include not only all the trash we are already producing but bright, neon-coloured, foam shoes.

3) They are hazardous. There have been over ten documented accidents with these shoes, on escalators especially. Children have lost toes to these things because the straps get caught in the sides of the escalator. A casual, practical, affordable sandal has caused kids to be injured, and these kids were under parental supervision, not running around as they pleased or playing on the escalator.

The articles I'm referring to were published in a respectable newspaper in my country, The Straits Times, not some tabloid that fabricates news. Of course the shoes are not the only factor and there are other shoes like sneakers that have laces and can get caught. But with laces there's an obvious hazard. Crocs are marketed as being super comfortable and safe, most people don't even see the strap as a hazard. Admittedly this isn't a huge point but it is something to be taken into consideration.

As a sidepoint, Crocs have been banned in some hospitals and schools, for safety reasons. When you're working around potentially bio-hazardous material, you don't really want holes in your shoes.

4) The entire Croc fad is materialism at one of its worst displays. I'm not trying to promote Armani, or Nike. They're really not that practical, especially for people who live in temperate countries, you will only wear these the most 6 out of 12 months. Come autumn and winter, your feet would freeze thanks to the fantastic holes which are so applauded. In fact, where I come from there are plenty of non-branded alternatives. We've had sandals that are comfortable and washable for years, just check out your nearest Wal-mart or K-mart or Sears or whatever store's nearest to you. Nice pairs of sandals don't need to cost even $40, if you don't care about the brand name. Crocs are a product created for which there was no real, urgent need. When taken into consideration along with the other points above, it's hard to see them in a positive light. So much of its appeal is simply the hype.

5) People use the excuse, 'they are so comfortable' to wear them to everything and anything'. If you protest that Crocs are not suitable for, let us say, places of worship, the office or events like weddings and funerals, they say they are making a statement. I have seen this too many times to discount it as unrelated, individual incidents. The correlation was the clogs.

People don't see that simply because they are available it's an excuse to wear them to everything. Even on orthopaedic grounds it's not really arguable--how much support can a pair of clogs that is made from from some resin material provide? For something that's so comfortable, it can actually cause flattened arches over a prolonged period of use due to the lack of adequate support. And people don't know this because the marketing campaign simply says they are comfortable and orthopaedically sound.

""I'll get people with strained arches because they've been running around in Crocs for five days," said Arnold Ravick, a doctor of podiatric medicine in Washington, D.C., and a spokesman for the American Podiatric Medical Association. "When it comes to shoes, people mistake comfort for support. Comfort is fool's gold—a soft gushy shoe that makes your arches collapse," he told me. "Crocs are popular because they're inexpensive and interchangeable. For people with certain problems, they can be a good shoe. Are they good for your foot, in general? No."" (www.slate.com/id/2170301)

Well-argued! I've been convinced. The full post is HERE.

'Crocs link to smugness and idiocy,' says the Daily Mash

An article from the Daily Mash:

WEARING Crocs shoes will transform you from a normal adult into a horribly self-satisfied and “self-consciously whacky tosser”, leading doctors warned last night.

Donning the brightly coloured plastic footwear is likely to make middle class women believe their dress sense is a lot more interesting than it really is, the doctors added.

Their research suggests Crocs may also encourage such women to think they are “a bit kooky” and individual, when in reality they are just wearing stupid shoes aimed at kids, and copying all their friends.

Cherie Jackers, whose parents David and Enid are leading vegetarians and caravanners, said she loved her Crocs and had bought them for all the family.

She said: “When I was at school I was always considered to be a bit of a crazy one and I was forever having to tell my friends to not mind me because I was ‘a bit mad’.

“So you can imagine Crocs are just perfect for me, they show everyone I am not just a sweaty mum with bad hair, but a really interesting individual with interesting and individual taste, just like the millions of other interesting and individual mums who wear Crocs too.”

Mrs Jackers said the shoes were “fantabulous” because she could wear them with anything, including her favourite grey jogging trousers with the bobbles and the saggy bum.

She said: “It doesn’t matter if the colours clash, or if the Crocs look stupid and out of place. In fact that’s the point of them. It just proves I’m totally crazy.”

Chloe Jackers, 11, and her brother Sam, 10, said their mother was “an embarrassment” and that while Crocs were “all right for five year olds I suppose” they were planning to burn theirs and run away from home.

Dr Raj Peshwar, a behaviourial psychologist and expert on the middle classes who conducted the research project, said Mrs Jackers was “unbearably smug” and a “total fucker”. “I hope she dies, horribly,” he added.

On their site, the article is HERE.

IHATECROCS loses an intern

Well, summer is going to be drawing to a close soon and with summer's end, we lose our intern, Dirk. Dirk has been this summer's IHATECROCS intern and has been getting us coffee and typing out all our posts as we dictate them to him. We were lucky to have an intern of such a high calibre and with such low self esteem. Anyway, as he will be returning to his home tomorrow, I've decided to allow him to write about his experiences these past few weeks.

Hello, Croc-blockers.

The weeks I interned at I Hate Crocs HQ were sweet. Vincenzo and Kate are real nice people, except for when it comes to Crocs. More than once, they said to go out into the expansive backyard and destroy Crocs in a bunch of weird ways. And everytime, Vincenzo said, "No, Dirk, don't bring the camera this time. I'm not legally allowed to have these chemicals."

Anyway, after that point in the letter, Dirk started to seriously ignore the non-disclosure agreements he signed and we can't have that kind of information out there. What occurs in the manor is not told to the public for a reason.

Good luck, Dirk. Keep the faith.

If you are interested in an unpaid internship at IHATECROCS HQ, please send a resume and cover letter to IHATECROCS@gmail.com. You must be in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in summer 2008, however.

And now, a letter from our good friend Nick:

Dear Vincenzo and Kate

There is a group of us that share the same feelings towards crocs. Here are some videos I have done that refer to crocs. www.pibtv.com/movies/CROCS.wmv

This next one refereces crocs at the end of the video. www.WILLTHISBEND.com

Hope you enjoy and keep up the fight to remove crocs from the streets and put them back in the garden where they belong.

Nick James

Correction, Nick. Crocs don't belong anywhere. Except perhaps Hell, where they came from.

And lastly, we have some somewhat boring hatemail:

Sorry but I hate your web site! Crocs are good for your feet, cool looking, water proof, and cool your feet of. You are mean, rude, and bad citizens .I hate your products.You disgust me, my friends and family!!!

We accept your apology.

DCfosheezy: Enemy of shift keys everywhere

Fellow Croc-blockers,

It may interest you to know that not everyone agrees with you, me and Kate. There are those who, in fact, dislike our having made this website at all. This may come as a shock to you. From the very beginning, I hoped that someone, somewhere, might become so incensed about our having made this website that they would go out and buy IHateIHateCrocsDotCom. And then, I thought, we could have the owners of that site over for a diplomatic dinner party and we could laugh and laugh. Unfortunately, at time of writing, no one has purchased IHateIHateCrocsDotCom. But, a blogger called DCfosheezy has written all about how much he dislikes us hating Crocs at his blog IHateYouHatersDotBlogspotDotCom:

I HATE "I HATE CROCS.COM" THESE GOTH-ISH NOVA SCOTIANS IN BETWEEN THEIR WEBSITE AND YOUTUBE/FACEBOOK BLASPHEMY... SEEM TO JUST TRY TO LOWBLOW THIS COMPANY, HEY RETARDS, THE CROSLITE MATERIAL (WHICH IS NOT RUBBER; STOP CALLING IT RUBBER, IT AINT, AND ITS GOT NO LATEX) WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED AND PRODUCED IN CANADA. SO WHATEVER, IN THE END WE CAN BLAME ANY MISHAPS ON THE CANADIANS... THEY STARTED IT.
ESCALATOR ACCIDENTS ARE TRAGIC, BUT CROCS DO NOT INCREASE THIS RISK IN ANY WAY. IN FACT THEM NOT HAVING LONG LOOSE LACES MAKES THEM 10 TIMES FUCKING SAFER THAN THE SKATE SHOES I USUALLY WEAR IN THE MALL. ALSO, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO," HOLD THE HANDRAIL AND WATCH YOUR STEP." JUST TEACHING PEOPLE THAT WOULD ENSURE SAFETY. THESE INCIDENTS ARE MOST OFTEN DO TO REALLY PISS POOR SHITTY MAINTENANCE OF ESCALATORS AND WALKING SIDEWALKS. BLAME THE LAZY MECHANICS AND THE MALLS THAT DONT GIVE A DAMN TO PAY MONEY TO REGULAR MAINTAIN THEIR PROPERTY. ALSO, TAKE THE DAMN STAIRS OR ELEVATOR EVERY NOW AND THEN. IHATECROCS.COM IS JUST ANOTHER LAME WEBSITE STARTED BY A COUPLE OF "HOT TOPIC" SHOPPERS WHO RATHER WEAR KNEE-HIGH 20 BUCKLE BOOTS FOR THE PRICE OF A PAIR OF AIR JORDANS, THAN RATHER BE COOL AND OR COMFORTABLE. IF SHOPKEEPERS AND MINIMUM WAGE MALL SECURITY GUARDS WANT TO TRY TO WARN SHOPPERS AND POST SHIT SAYING HOW DANGEROUS CROCS ARE, YOU'RE DUMB.
CROCS MAKES MILLIONS AND WILL CONTINUE TO FOREVER AND EVER. NOT A FAD YOU FAGS. SO JUST POP YOUR CHEAP PRESCIPTION CANADIAN DRUGS AND SHUT UP ALREADY.

We were, in fact, aware that Crocslite was originally created and produced in Canada. And we are Canadian. I suppose DCfosheezy's argument is that Kate and I agree with everything that is created and produced in our fair country. I, personally, do not agree with maple syrup. I find it altogether too sugary and syrupy. Also, I really don't like that our DVD cases have all the text in both English and French. I think DVD covers are cluttered enough as it is without having to cram both languages on. They should have both options available. I think that would be better. And we should probably take the critic's comments off the cover, too. And I hate how sometimes books that have won award have a note saying 'Winner of the whatever award' in a circle that looks like a sticker, but is in fact printed right on the cover and cannot be peeled off. That just ruins a perfectly good book. I don't even remember what I was talking about anymore.

Oh yes, DCfosheezy. What a charming name, as well. I object to the 'goth-ish' comment, as neither Kate nor I are 'goth-ish'. I'm not exactly sure where this got started.

We don't tend to comment on the whole escalator debacle, though we occasionally post the emails we get about it simply because we get so many. We steer away from mentioning it because it is not funny. It is horrifying. Especially the pictures.

Truthfully, I don't much feel like going through and countering every allegation our friend made (not to mention the amount of time it would take to parse each woefully grammatically incorrect sentence), but I do feel I should say that I've never set foot inside a 'Hot Topic', nor am I exactly sure what 'Hot Topic' is. I think it is a clothing store.

DCfosheezy's blog, I Hate You Haters Dot Blogspot Dot Com, so far only features the sole entry I've reposted here. It is an honour.

Z-Coils

(Part of this post has been omitted due to a request from the person who wrote the email we posted. Sorry if the comments now make absolutely no sense whatsoever.)



Our good friend Ben sent us a note telling us about Z-Coil shoes, which are not exactly good looking. Well, I'll let him tell you about them:

Hey- I love your site. I hate crocs as much as any other freedom loving person, so I felt compelled to help. While the link I'm sending doesn't have crocs, it shows another type of equally heinous footwear.

http://www.zcoil.com/

I saw these shoes at the hospital I worked at a few years ago. I couldn't believe that people actually would buy them. The afternoon after the vendor came though, I saw several nurses running around in them.

I scanned back on your site a little ways and couldn't tell if you had already ripped into these. At least they don't have holes in them.

Good luck.

Ben

Thanks, Ben! And they're easy to make fun of, too. Look: Z-Coil makes us recoil. Effortless! And it rhymes!