One Day Without Shoes. One day to experience a life of cuts, stubbed toes, constant risk of infection and all around discomfort. While the goal of the pseudo-holiday is understandable, its implementation is flawed.

The problem lies within the name. One day; just one day designed to equate to a lifetime without any foot protection and the associated consequences. The concept gets points for creativity, but comparing one day of walking around nicely paved roads, soft grass, tile floors and carpeted houses cannot be compared to a lifetime of walking through rocky dirt roads, parasite ridden ground and bare dirt floors all while pushing the pain of the latest cut to the back of the mind and praying not to get a debilitating infection.

TOMS charity work around the world has helped hundreds of thousands of people in some of the poorest countries avoid deadly foot infections, and they should be praised for their efforts, but the one day without shoes campaign fails to live up to their other works. Even if participants believe going a day without shoes can give an idea of life in a third world country, put simply, it can’t. And because of this the campaign gets lowered to the status of a somewhat more creative than usual marketing ploy, rather than a humanitarian awareness project.

Even worse, some TOMS fans just jump on the figurative bandwagon without knowing what they’re promoting. They join in because it’s ‘cool’ and may not even realize what the day was designed to represent. It defeats the whole purpose of the campaign and makes a mockery of beneficiaries of TOMS other charity work. People who have the means to keep themselves safe from foot problems should show their appreciation by using them, not by taking part in a marketing plan that pales in comparison to an actual life without shoes.