A university researcher has hit out a shoe company after it gave away condoms with trainers emblazoned with ‘If in doubt, f**k it?’ on the inside.
Christopher Lyon, who is based at the University of Leeds, slammed Goodwin Smith for the ‘vile message’ and ‘cheap cologne’ that also came with the shoes.
He suggested the firm was ‘cheerleading men toward dubious consent practices’ and others on Twitter claimed the company was promoting a ‘sexist’ image.
Lancashire-based shoe company Goodwin Smith has sold trainers emblazoned with ‘If in doubt, f**k it?’ on the inside, provoking a furious response from one customer
The firm has been slammed for selling the shoes with a free condom and ‘cheap cologne’
But Goodwin Smith, based in Stacksteads, Lancashire, hit back to insist that the quote was a ‘reference to life in general’ and had ‘no sexual connotation’.
Dr Lyon tweeted: ‘Returned a pair of shoes from Goodwin Smith due to the vile ‘If in doubt, f**k it?’ printed in the shoe and the condom and cheap cologne that came with it.
‘A shoe company cheerleading men toward dubious consent practices?! Disgusting. #MeToo #Feminism #Consent.’
Others echoed his concerns, with Maggie McQueen from Sheffield saying: ‘What a horrible, sexist image this company are promoting. Please stop it.’
Coralie Alison, the director of Collective Shout, an Australian-based campaign group against the objectification of women, was also unimpressed.
She tweeted: ‘This is shocking. Where is the corporate social responsibility? And the response is just a cop out. This is #RapeCulture.’
Tweeting the firm, postdoctoral research associate Dr Lyon added: ‘I just hope some drunk-dumb lad hasn’t raped someone and ruined a life because your shoes encouraged him past the ‘hey, maybe s/he’s a little too drunk’ moment.’
And he told the company: ‘An option might be to discontinue that phrase and marketing strategy, provide a sizeable corporate donation and a percentage of each purchase to rape crisis charities. Set the standard.’
The firm replied: ‘Hey Christopher, we’re really sorry to hear your disappointment – we value and respect everyone’s opinion so thank you for reaching out.’
Mr Lyon and others on Twitter have claimed the company was promoting a ‘sexist’ image
It later added: ‘We’d like to clarify that the quote in the shoe has no sexual connotation and we as a brand most certainly would not promote anything that has been implied. The quote is a reference to life in general.’
And others on social media defended the company, with Tony Dabell from Leicestershire saying: ‘Oh behave, will you little snowflakes?
‘For a start they’re depicted like that on the website, secondly you won’t see the writing when you’ve got them on, and the condom thing is a bit cheeky as a first thing a woman looks at is a men’s shoes, if she likes them then there’s a chance.’
Alan Eastlake added: ‘Whoever finds this offensive/inappropriate needs to have a serious word with themselves. Goodwin Smith aren’t encouraging ‘dubious consent practices’.’
But some Twitter users have defended the company, with one saying it was not offensive
The company itself later added that the line printed on the inside of the shoe was inspired by John Parkin’s self-help book: ‘F*** It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way’
A representative for the firm told MailOnline that the ‘addition of the condom is to promote safe sex’, adding that the cologne is ‘a promotional sampler’.
The spokesman continued: ‘Mr Lyon’s beliefs and concerns regarding rape are, of course, right and commendable and we admire his sense of morality.
‘But his comments in regard to Goodwin Smith are based on wild and far-fetched assumptions.
The company said the quote was a ‘reference to life in general’ and had ‘no sexual connotation’
‘The tweet and subsequent accusations, particularly that reading a five-word phrase could push someone on the fence to commit rape is ridiculous, and an insult to both free speech and our customers.
‘Such comments are perhaps more representative of some people on social media whose objective is purely to bang the virtuous drum for their own good and ego.
‘We strongly support women’s rights. That includes their right to dress and behave as they wish. And any campaign we have run in the past involving women has been scripted, run, and directed by women.
‘If Mr Lyon was offended by the words in our shoes he has the right to return them.’
In November last year, the company’s ad campaign featuring female nudity alongside the phrase ‘fancy a pair?’ was banned for being ‘degrading’ to women
It comes nine months after the company’s ad campaign featuring female nudity alongside the phrase ‘fancy a pair?’ was banned for being ‘degrading’ to women.
Watchdogs ruled last November that the adverts for Goodwin Smith – along with an image of three models wearing just knickers – ‘objectified’ women.
The firm also hit the headlines in February 2017 after sending Donald Trump a pair of £100 brogues along with a condom and a note calling him a ‘lad with swagger’.
MailOnline has contacted the company for comment this morning.
How Goodwin Smith was founded by a failed Dragons’ Den contestant
Former Dragons’ Den contestant Tim Smith launched Goodwin Smith in 2014
Goodwin Smith was launched four years ago by former Dragons’ Den contestant Tim Smith.
The firm is intended to pay homage to two respected shoemakers from Lancashire, former Manchester City footballer Ernest Goodwin and coal miner Walter Smith, and its parent firm Bacup Shoe was founded in 1928.
Each pair of the British-designed shoes is said to take one month to make, and the brand’s logo is a stag’s head to pay homage to the symbol of the Rossendale Valley.
But it has been caught in controversy over an advert campaign featuring female nudity alongside the phrase ‘fancy a pair?’. The ad was banned for being ‘degrading’ to women.
The breasts of one of the women in the email were exposed, while the second covered her chest with her arm with her nipple exposed and the third posed in front of the others holding a pair of shoes over her chest.
But the firm said it had attempted to portray a ‘fantasy concept’ in which the men were portrayed as being confident’, and was not meant to degrade women.
The ‘fancy a pair?’ ad by Goodwin Smith was banned for being ‘degrading’ to women
The firm also hit the headlines last year after sending US president Donald Trump a pair of £100 brogues along with a condom and a note calling him a ‘lad with swagger’.
In an interview with Real Business in 2015, Mr Smith said the shoes are generally sold to city-living professionals aged 25 to 35.
He added: ‘They don’t have loads of money, but are very driven. The majority of people that are looking at our website are around 30. They are in city-type jobs.’
The businessman added that the shoes were made by an Italian family based in Agra, India, and each pair goes through 200 processes to make.
Mr Smith appeared on Dragons’ Den in 2011 with his ‘folding shoes’ invention, offering 10 per cent of his business for £300,000.
But the Dragons were put off by his company being owned by a holding company with three directors – Mr Smith, his father and his brother – because they did not want to be junior partners in a family business.