According to Esquire, the average lifespan of an athletic shoe ranges from about six months for running and other high-impact activities to a year or so for, say, weightlifting.

Skechers doesn’t have a strong presence on college or professional basketball courts, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t want to. Last year the company sued Adidas for denying competitors a fair chance to sign promotional contracts with high school and college basketball programs.

It is also no stranger to controversy. In 2013 the Federal Trade Commission ordered Skechers to pay a $40 million settlement for having “deceptively advertised its toning shoes, including making unfounded claims that its Shape-up shoes would help people lose weight, and strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles,” according to CNN. Skechers sent over 500,000 refund checks to customers who had purchased Shape-ups after celebrity-studded ads—including a 2011 Super Bowl ad starring Kim Kardashian—touted the sneakers’ toning and calorie burning qualities.

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