The catalog
Gear
66 listings in 6 categories. Every product entry on this site says what the listing states, what it leaves open, and which of the 8 claim words it uses. None of them says what the shoe is like, because nobody here has held one.
Men’s Walking Shoes
The job: a full day of steps, in whatever the listing calls support
Eleven listings, split three ways by how much sole they admit to having. The vocabulary shifts as the sole gets thicker: the thin-soled listings sell ground feel, the thick-soled ones sell proprietary foam. Neither group gives a figure.
- Listings
- 11
- Subgroups
- 3
- Using no claim word
- 0
Women’s Fashion Sneakers
The job: a shoe that has to look like something as well as fit
Seven of these twelve listings use none of the eight claim words, which is not modesty so much as confidence: when the silhouette is the product, the copy has nothing left to sell. Only the loafers are quieter.
- Listings
- 12
- Subgroups
- 3
- Using no claim word
- 7
Clogs & Mules
The job: on and off without hands, and hosed down after
The most instructive category here, because it contains both extremes: four listings of five words or fewer, and the single listing in sixty-six that names a published test standard. Everything this site is about sits between those two poles.
- Listings
- 12
- Subgroups
- 3
- Using no claim word
- 4
Women’s Loafers & Slip-Ons
The job: a closed shoe with no closure to adjust
The quietest category in the catalog: nine of these eleven listings use none of the eight claim words. Most of these shoes have nothing to tighten, so the copy cannot sell adjustment and sells dress codes instead. Not one of the eleven gives a figure of any kind.
- Listings
- 11
- Subgroups
- 3
- Using no claim word
- 9
Women’s Slide Sandals
The job: one strap, one footbed, nothing else to fail
Ten listings with almost no construction between them: a footbed, a strap and sometimes a buckle. With so little object to describe, the copy has to work harder, and this is where the claim words get densest.
- Listings
- 10
- Subgroups
- 3
- Using no claim word
- 1
Men’s Sandals & Flip-Flops
The job: the least shoe that still counts as one
The shortest listing in the whole catalog is here, and so is the boldest grip phrasing. With this little object to sell, sellers either say nothing at all or reach for everything at once, and there is very little in between.
- Listings
- 10
- Subgroups
- 2
- Using no claim word
- 4