"This Shoe" with the highest sales ever...Dozens of U.S. schools ban it. Why?

AFP = Yonhap News / Photo unrelated to the article

Crocs, the shoe brand that recorded record sales this year, faced a crisis as it was perceived as "dangerous," with dozens of U.S. schools banned from wearing it.According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Bloomberg on the 28th (local time)
, dozens of schools in at least 12 states in the United States have banned Crocs shoes for safety reasons.

Lake City Elementary School in Georgia banned Crocs, set regulations to wear blocked shoes, and Ravel Middle School in Florida also said "never Crocs" as a dress code.

The move appears to be a result of the recent spread of memes on social media (SNS) such as TikTok that recreated teenagers slipping in Crocs or falling in school corridors.

Crocs

Jessica Ramirez, a senior research analyst at market tracker Jane Harley and Associates, said Crocs' popularity among young people appears to have increased related incidents in recent years.

A New York state health teacher said, "When I hear about the foot injury, there is a reaction that 'I would have been wearing Crocs,'" adding, "I agree with the ban on wearing Crocs for safety reasons."

In this regard, Crocs told Bloomberg, "There is no meaningful data that the Crocs ban is increasing," but added, "It is embarrassing for schools to ban it."

Meanwhile, according to a survey of American youth conducted by Piper Sandler, a U.S. brokerage firm, Crocs was among the top 10 favorite shoe brands of Generation Z. Driven by this popularity, Crocs posted record sales earlier this year and its stock is up 55% over the past 12 months.

Reporter Lee Yu Na from Digital News Team.