Marketing|Online stores sell cheap sandals that look the same as the Happy flops sandals advertised by influencers. According to the managing director, their shoes stand out from others, for example, with the brand’s own logo.
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The company that sells Happy flops sandals apologizes for misleading health claims.
The company already gave up marketing such as a health product in Norway.
Sandals are sold to consumers directly from China.
In social the Swedish company selling Happy flops sandals that received attention in the media apologizes for the misleading health claims on its website.
Managing director Santiago Loor Talavera says that Finnish-language websites have had machine-translated text, the source of which has been the company’s outdated marketing material.
At the beginning of June, the company’s website urged to experience pain relief with Happy flops. Now the text is designed to say that with the help of sandals you could experience extreme comfort.
The site also hinted that Happy flops sandals could help with joint problems. The text has since been removed.
“We have edited our website, we admit the mistake and apologize”, says Loor Talavera.
According to him, the company has not used experts in the health field in its previous product development or marketing, but the texts referring to Pain Relief were based on the experiences of consumers and the feedback received from them.
The company had previously given up on health product-like marketing in Norway, where Jalkaterapeutit evaluatedthat sandals have no health benefits.
Happy flops’ Finnish website said in early June that the sandals could be used as an aid in pain relief.
At the end of June, the text about pain relief was edited to talk about comfort.
The fashion industry influencer and responsibility expert of marketplace Ivalo.com Outi Pyy criticize In HS’s story, the company behind the sandals and the influencers who participated in its advertising campaign.
According to Pyy, sandals represent ultra-fast fashion and it is difficult for the consumer to get information about the product safety of shoes or the responsibility of production. In his opinion, influencers should check the backgrounds of the companies and products they advertise more carefully.
After the news Janni Hussi decided to cooperate with the brand. Maria Veitola again said on Instagram that he had received insufficient information and that he would learn from what happened.
Managing director Loor Talavera considers it sad if someone has decided to stop working with the brand. He doesn’t think it’s due to his company’s own communication or products, but to the news, which he thinks has been misleading.
Loor Talavera has not been in contact with Finnish influencers who did marketing. Cooperation has been agreed through the Mellakka management office.
The Finnish influencers did not make any health claims about the shoes in the campaign.
According to the assignment given to Mellakka Management, sandals were to be advertised as shoes that could be worn, for example, on the beach or in the garden. According to the instructions given to the influencers, they were only allowed to talk about the shoes through their own experience and feelings and not to mention any generalizable health benefits.
According to Loor Talavera, the fact that the company itself has promoted products in a way that it has clearly forbidden to influencers is due to human error and the language barrier encountered when creating websites.
Happy flops removed from its website the claim that the sandals could help with knee problems.
One Pyy’s criticism was about the fact that the company that sells sandals does not present certificates about product safety or the responsibility of the manufacturing process on its website.
Happy flops sandals are made of ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA), which is a light and elastic plastic.
The company says that it has tested the chemical safety of its shoes at a Swedish research institute. The sandals passed the SS-EN71-3 standard in accordance with the toy safety directive, which is used to evaluate, for example, finger paints and plastic toys sold in Europe.
“The authorities recommended this certificate to us, because its criteria are strict, and it guarantees that the product will not be harmful, even if it gets into a child’s mouth, for example,” says Loor Talavera.
The company also provided HS with a report proving that the Alibaba online store accepted the shoe manufacturer used by Happy flops as its supplier.
The report on the Chinese company Jinjiang Yuchuang Shoes does not comment on the working conditions of the production line, but it says, among other things, that the company has more than 100 employees and is able to produce 800,000 pairs of sandals per month.
Happy flops sandals are shipped to buyers directly from China.
The company that owns the Happy flops brand is located in Britain, and sales in the Nordic countries are handled by its Swedish subsidiary.
The company’s supply chain is similar to what is known from online stores for cheap fashion and inexpensive small goods drop shipping – method of operation. In the arrangement, the company sells goods to consumers that it does not have in stock.
A retailer does not need a brick-and-mortar store, and is only responsible for marketing and selling the products.
According to Loor Talavera, the company cooperates with a Chinese manufacturer, but owns its own stored products in China.
Sandals the Chinese manufacturing company sells shoes on its website that look similar to Happy flops sandals. The sandals are not sold directly to consumers, as their price is not stated on the website, and the minimum order quantity is 300 pairs.
Jinjiang Yuchuang Shoes sells cloud slides sandals on its website. The company says it manufactures sandals in the customer’s desired colors and with the customer’s own logo.
Similar sandals are sold for a few euros under different brands in e.g. Alibaba and Temu online stores.
Online stores call the sandals by the brand names pillow slides and cloud slides and advertise them with the same features as Happy flops. They are said to be soft EVA plastic that feels comfortable on the foot. The bottom of the shoe has an anti-slip pattern.
Loor Talavera according to the company, their sandals are made with the brand’s own mold, which means that the insole of the shoes has the brand’s engraved logo.
“Just like Crocs shoes, our sandals are also copied. The original product is a higher quality material than reproductions.”
However, Loor Talavera cannot guarantee that the Chinese company that manufactures their shoes will not also make similar-looking sandals from the same material for other retailers.
Jinjiang Yuchuang Shoes says on their website that the shoes they make can be made with a logo according to the buyer’s wishes.
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