Feeling betrayed

All too often the attachment we feel towards a person associated with a product turns out to be misguided. The more we believe in the relationship, the more betrayed we feel when we discover the truth.

Take Betty Crocker. Throughout my childhood I believed in a super-woman who knew how to cook anything, from chicken and dumplings to a mountain-high Devil's Food cake. I was truly shocked when I discovered, as an adult, that there was no such person. Never had been. Just a fiction created to promote food products. I lost what little respect I had for the big red spoon on the label.

The situation is not much better when the charade is based on a real person. Take Duncan Hines. For a time I acted on the assumption that Duncan Hines cake mixes were superior to Betty Crocker, because he was a real person, a real cook who developed the mixes personally. Wrong! Mr. Hines was a traveling salesman who wrote a book listing his favorite eating places. He sold the use of his name to other companies, who made the products. He had no part in what we see on the grocer's shelves.

What happens when the person did play a pivotal role in product development, but is no longer with the company? Consider Quintana Roo, the bike manufacturer founded by Dan Empfield. To the best of my knowledge the first bike manufacturer to target the special geometry demanded by long course triathlon. The brand has been bought and sold, and is still being made, but without the special motivation that Dan brought in the beginning. These days, Dan puts all his energy into his web site, slowtwitch.com.

Consider a more complex version of the leadership lost scenario. Take for example the case of Steve Jobs, who started his own computer company, Next, after being driven out of Apple by its board of directors. Apple fans had to make a difficult choice, should their new computer be a Mac, or a Next? In that case the board finally realized their mistake and brought Steve back, the move that brought us the colorful iMac, the iPod, the iTunes store, and most notably, the iPhone.

I was shocked and dismayed to learn recently of a similar situation. Danny Abshire is no longer with Newton Running, the running shoe company he founded. I was introduced to Newton shoes by my masseuse and mentor, Sonya Weiser Souza sometime in 2012 as I was training for my first marathon, which was December of that year. At first I just thought they were quirky, but after watching their YouTube videos and reading Abshire's book, Natural Running, I became a true believer. The lugs under the five metatarsals transmit foot contact signals otherwise dampened by soft, shock absorbing shoes, allowing the body to run more like how it evolved over countless millennia running barefoot, while protecting the foot from the hard surfaces we run on today. My favorite mantra to recite while running is "feel the road," something that Newton shoes do admirably.

As shocking as it was to learn that Abshire is no longer involved with Newton, my head really spun around when I learned that he was back in the running shoe business. His new design, called Active88, does not have lugs. It does have some interesting technology, such as a soft cushioned heel support that will compress and conform to the shape of your heel after a few runs.

I feel, well, abandoned. I just bought a new pair of Newton Distance IV shoes for the marathon. Honestly, I found them to be much harder than previous models, and my toenails got beat up a lot more this year. Could it be that the Newton I believed in all these years is gone? And what if the lug thing was never a necessity? Could it be nothing more than a gimmick? I feel betrayed.

My story does not end here. I have written to Abshire to ask about fit. When I hear what he has to say I will either buy a pair of his new shoes, or look for something else. Right now the Altra Escalante 1.5 is in the lead.