Sneakers With A Warning Label
You've seen kids with skateboards or Rollerblades jump up on a curb or railing and slide. They call it grinding. Now, kids are doing it without wheels. The secret is in their sneakers, reports CBS News Correspondent Hattie Kauffman.
They're called Soaps, and they're hot sellers at stores like Val Surf, a store catering to the skateboard crowd. In a half an hour, we saw three kids buying them.
"I think it would be fun to kind of grind on these, because that's what these are there for -- to grind on them," says one young consumer.
"It is really the 'in' thing, and several of his friends have them. He really has not left me alone for the past several weeks about it," says his mother.
They may look like regular sneakers at first glance. But turn them over and you find the hidden appeal of Soaps. It's a removable plate made of molded nylon that makes it easy to grind.
"They have this added benefit. You're walking to school in the morning and you see a handrail, or painted curb, or park bench, or marble planter, and you can jump up on a patent-pending grind plate, get in a slide and keep walkin'," says Soap Co-Founder Jerry Gross.
I gave them a try on the curb and on a training bar set up for me by the manufacturers. I learned speed is the key, and I also learned not to get too confident.
"Banisters, curbs, rails, and the principal comes by, and he doesn't know what's going on, because he doesn't see a skateboard or anything," says one grinder.
Tricking the principal can be dangerous enough, but do these kids realize they're fooling with potentially deadly footwear? As Jerry Gross points out, the warning is clearly printed on the label: "There is no way to grind without running the risk of serious bodily injury, including head injury, spinal injury or death."
Yes, they are sneakers with a warning label. But if you look around, a lot of risky sports gear doesn't come with warning labels.
Skateboards have no warnings. Snowboards and skis don't have a single word of caution. So what is up with these sneakers?
"We think it's our affirmative obligation to warn kids and parents that if these shoes are used in the most extreme way, which most kids would never use them for that, that it could cause injury," Gross says.
"You're acknowledging that there's risks associated with using the shoe, and you're waiving your right to sue me and everybody else affiliated with this company."
We don't know if this would hold up in court. But in this court of public opinion, the label seems to be a non-issue.
If imitation is in fact a form of flattery, Rollerblade is now coming out with its own version of grinding sneakers, and they have warning labels, too.