More than half a million checks are in the mail to people who bought toning shoes from Skechers USA. The $40 million payout is part of a settlement reached with the Federal Trade Commission last year.
The FTC had charged the company with using allegedly deceptive advertising to promote its Shape-ups. They said Skechers made "unfounded claims" that its Shape-ups would help people lose weight, and strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles. The FTC complaint also charged the company with falsely representing that those claims were backed up by clinical studies.
Shape-ups ads featured celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Brooke Burke. The company promised its shoes would let you "Shape Up While You Walk," and "Get in Shape without Setting Foot in a Gym."
"Advertisers need to haveadequate proof for the claims they make before they make them," the FTC'sLarissa Bungo said.
The complaint alleged Skechers also made deceptive claims about it Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-ups shoes.