For years, Crocs were ridiculed as America's ugliest shoes. They've been called "pock-faced," "plastic hoofs," and the "garden gnome of fashion." But now, they're actual fashion, thanks to some help from top name designers and celebrities. Crocs are in. How did that happen? PLUS: Are Crocs edible?

Produced by Sarah Wyman, with Dan Bobkoff and Amy Pedulla.

Transcript

Note: This transcript may contain errors.

SARAH WYMAN: Hey Dan.

DAN BOBKOFF: Hey Sarah Wyman, Household Name producer.

SW: I have a question for you.

DB: Yeah.

SW: Do you know who Post Malone is?

DB: No, I mean like, I think I've heard his name in the ether, but it's like one of those names where I can't tell you who he is, what he does, or… why we're talking about him.

SW: OK, well, he's kind of a rapper, part songwriter, part style icon.

DB: Ok.

SW: Like… here's a picture of him.

DB: Oh man, that's Post Malone?

SW: Yeah, what do you notice?

DB: Um, man bun and face tattoos.

SW: Ok, here's another picture of him.

DB: Ok, he looks like a rocker who's about to smash a guitar.

SW: Yeah, and look a little closer.

DB: Wait, IS HE WEARING CROCS?

SW: (laughs) Oh yes. Bright white Crocs.

DB: Why is that guy wearing Crocs? Like, to me...Crocs are what dads wear when they walk the dog or maybe what nurses wear in a hospital?

SW: Why Post Malone is wearing Crocs is the only thing I've been able to think about for like the past month of my life.

DB: That's where you've been!

SW: Yeah, I went down a kind of a rabbit hole. It started with this phone call.

SW: Hi, this is Catherine, right?

CATHERINE HAHN: Yes!

SW: Excellent...

SW: I thought maybe Post Malone was the reason Crocs were cool.

But then I saw fashion models were wearing them two years earlier.

And then it occurred to me, ten years before that, in 2007, weren't people already talking about Crocs and how ugly they are?

LATE NIGHT: I want clothing I can hose down! [laugh]

DB: Sarah, Sarah, Sarah are you ok?

SW: Dan, I have been living, breathing... EATING Crocs for the past month.

SW: UHHHH I don't want to do it!

DB: Sarah, I'm worried about you!

SW: Dan, It's OK. I know how Crocs ended up on Post Malone's feet in that photo.

DB: From Business Insider and Stitcher, this is Household Name. Brands you know, stories you don't. I'm Dan Bobkoff.

Today, Crocs.

They're the shoe so uncool they're apparently now cool. So ugly they're fashionable. And we… ...can't stop talking about them.

ARCHIVAL: But now grown-ups all over America have gone Croc crazy.

DB: Sarah Wyman is here to explain how Crocs became popular.. Twice… And I'll find out why Post Malone is wearing them now.

Stay with us.

ACT I

DB: OK Sarah, so our question is: how did Crocs become so popular and fashionable that they ended up on Post Malone's feet as he smashes a guitar?

SW: Yeah… And before we get to any of that, we should probably say what they are… you know, for anyone living under a… (C)rock.

DB: Oh Yes!

SW: So Crocs are like foamy clogs.

DB: Yeah, they're really brightly colored. They look really clunky.

SW: They have big holes punched into them. Sometimes people plug the holes with these things called Jibbitz.

DB: Wait, what are jibbitz?

SW: They're these little charm ornaments that you can decorate your Crocs with.

DB: This is why I've always thought Crocs look more like toys than shoes.

SW: They do… And not necessarily… in a good way.

DB: These are things you wear for, you know, practical purposes or because maybe you're trying to draw attention to your feet for some reason.

SW: Yeah, it's the kind of shoe I would be comfortable walking through a swamp in.

DB: Do you wear Crocs?

SW: Exclusively when walking my dog.

DB: Does Post Malone have a dog?

SW: Nice try, Dan, we're not quite there yet. And before we get back to Post Malone, I should mention that there are two big golden ages of the Croc. And, I'm going to start by talking about the first one - which started around 2006.

DB: Ok, so 2006. This is around the time the Croc started to become a thing, right? I think that's when I started to notice them.

SW: Yeah, the shoe had technically been around since like 2002, but it was meant from the start to be a practical shoe. So, the people who were wearing it were like restaurant workers, hospital employees, fishermen… and they were wearing it as part of their work uniform.

Also, I need to share this very excellent fact…. The first place the Croc was ever sold was at A BOAT SHOW IN FLORIDA IN 2002!

DB: They knew their early market.

SW: I know, it's like my favorite thing. And we're not the first people to call out the Croc-Florida connection. Like, have you seen the SNL skit about this?

DB: No…

SW: Ok, it's a parody of a local news story in Florida—a reporter is covering a sinkhole or something like that, and he's interviewing this couple… It's a beautiful woman, played by Margot Robbie, and her very unimpressive husband, and the reporter keeps calling the husband out for just being startlingly inadequate…

SNL: Absolutely, if you could just pan down a little bit, Rick, you'll see that there's mud and OH MY GOD! [laugh] Mike Schatt is wearing Crocs and socks!

DB: Crocs are really the punchline here.

SW: Yes! And that joke works because of the first Golden Age of Crocs. Back around 2006, the shoe was starting to gain traction. And it was met with open hostility. And for lots of people, the most infuriating part about this very ugly shoe was that… some people liked it.

GRAHAM FLANAGAN: I love Crocs.

SW: You love Crocs?

GF: Love is the the proper word.

DB: Is that Graham Flanagan?

SW: It is! Graham makes videos for Business Insider. And his experience kind of represents what was happening with Crocs during this period, around 2006. Because for Graham, Crocs were not about fashion. He liked them because they were practical and comfortable. His pair? Navy blue with white soles. He liked them so much, Dan, that he wore them into the office...

GF: And immediately you hear this chorus of disgust from my co-workers. Everyone just hurling insults.

COWORKERS: Those are not shoes you wear outside.

GF: Yes they are! They're boat shoes.

COWORKERS: No they're not!

GF: The criticism… Making fun of them, making fun of me. It got ugly. And despite all of that, I only was focusing on what I felt on my feet. And instantly, I just felt like 'wow, this is different. This isn't like any other shoe I've tried on before.'

SW: What do you mean by that?

GF: It was loose, yet, yet…. I felt supported. The... having the holes there felt, it…. they…. they breathe differently than most shoes, and then they look different than any other shoe I've ever worn.

SW: The criticism sort of emboldened him. Made him double down on his initial reaction—he really liked these shoes! But then… he took them home and showed them to his wife.

GF: That's when the real abuse began. No, she... she wasn't…. she was not happy.

SW: Really? She wouldn't abide them being in the home.

GF: No, she's not a fan. Understandably. I get it. They're weird-looking. But I said I'm keeping them. I like them and I'm going to keep them. And so the rule, it's pretty simple. You can only wear them around the house and to Walmart.

DB: Wait his wife told him the only public place he could wear them was Walmart? That feels like kind of a sad ending.

SW: A little bit, yeah. And this type of anti-Crocs attitude is nothing new.

Like, in 2008, somebody started a website called "I hate Crocs.com" where there are videos of them destroying Crocs in various ways...

DB: Subtle.

SW: Like setting off fireworks in Crocs.... And you know, of course the Croc is being mocked ruthlessly in movies and on TV.

ARCHIVAL: Any time you see anyone wearing plastic Crocs, be aware! BE WARY.

What does that mean? What does that mean, Rob!?

Upside of being blind, I've never seen you in Crocs.

You might as well put sweatpants on and go to Applebees for the rest of your life!

I am such an idiot. I have egg in my Crocs.

SW: Paparazzi start photographing celebrities wearing crocs.

DB: Were they trying to shame them?

SW: That was probably a part of it. And I've brought with me here a deck of Crocs' biggest hits from the late 2000s.

To start us off, here in 2007 we have...

DB: A baby.

SW: Violet Affleck, Ben Affleck's daughter, who, yeah, I should note is a baby.

DB: Okay, I mean I can see babies wearing these, that that makes sense to me.

SW: Yeah, it's a practical shoe choice for a small child. Also in 2007, George W. Bush.

DB: So wait, he was still president and he's... God that those look terrible. He's wearing like baggy shorts and Crocs and he's still... Oh gosh.

SW: He has like a nice ankle-high sock going with it too, which I believe unless I am mistaken bear the seal of the president of the United States.

DB: Alright, who else?

SW: Adam Sandler, Steven Tyler, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, BROOKE SHIELDS! All these celebrities are out and about in Crocs.

DB: So is all this attention turning into good business? Are they doing well as a business?

SW: They're doing great. And to give you some context, like the first year they were on the market, back in 2003, the company made like 1 million dollars, but by 2007 they're making 1 billion dollars a year.

DB: So the fact that a lot of people are still calling them ugly is not hurting the company at all?

SW: The opposite. The company is actually leaning into that idea with their branding. Like they run this ad campaign in Vanity Fair with the line "ugly is beautiful"...

DB: Oh, that's smart.

SW: They're asking people to embrace the idea that being different is okay…. By wearing Crocs.

DB: This is why marketing people get paid a lot of money.

SW: But in 2008, things come to almost a screeching halt. Crocs' stock suddenly drops to almost $1 a share, down from $70 just a year earlier.

DB: They hit Croc Bottom!! Wait, so why the sudden dip?

SW: Back in 2006 and 2007, Crocs were selling faster than stores could restock them, so the company ramped up production like crazy. But then the 2008 financial crisis hit, and stores had way more Crocs than they knew what to do with.

DB: Got it. So this is a really bad time for the economy and the company. You'd think that would be the end of Crocs.

SW: It was really BAD. People stopped buying Crocs almost overnight. By 2011, the chief executive was telling The Guardian that he was getting calls to send back a million pairs of Crocs.

DB: Wow, a million pairs?

SW: The company closed factories and stores, laid off 2000 workers. It got so bad that at one point the company's auditor was like I don't know if Crocs is gonna exist a year from now.

DB: So how do they come back again….How do they end up all these years later on Post Malone's feet on a stage in that photo you were showing us at the beginning?

SW: So on the business-y side, Crocs manages to hang on because a new CEO comes on board and he cuts down their budget, pulls down production, and closes stores.

But the second golden age is so much bigger than that, that's when things really get interesting.

Culture, Crocs, and Post Malone are about to...collide.

DB: That sounds dramatic.

SW: I'll get there...after the break.

ACT II

DB: We're back.

SW: And we're at the dawn of a new era. Crocs are about to become FASHION.

DB: What?

SW: Yeah, I started looking for an explanation for this very confusing turn of events, and I found… a fashionable person.

EMILIA PETRARCA: My name is Emilia Petrarca. And I am the fashion news writer for The Cut at New York Magazine.

SW: Emilia's job is to be up on what's happening with style and trends. Like I talked to her the day after the Golden Globes had happened, and she had been up the night before watching the awards and scrutinizing everyone's looks on the red carpet.

SW: I assume no one wore Crocs at the Golden Globes last night. Just checking...

EP: You know, they didn't. But if they did I don't think I would have been like floored.

DB: Wait, so when did it become normal to see Crocs on a red carpet?

SW: It's 2016. London Fashion Week. Scottish designer Christopher Kane is presenting his collection. And some of his models are wearing… Crocs! And they're not just any Crocs. Here's a picture…

DB: What... what am I looking at?

SW: They're Crocs, that much I'm certain of, but they have this weird kind of marble texture imprinted on them.

DB: What... what is on the top of these Crocs?

SW: Those are those are Christopher Kane jibbitz.

DB: Wow.

SW: Yeah, they're kind of geode-looking, like shiny crystals.

DB: So what was the reaction when people saw this on a runway?

SW: So, I asked Emilia about this. And I tried to play it cool, but I don't totally get these shoes.

SW: They are, I mean we can say they are kind of ugly, are the not?

EP: Oh, these? My God, I can't believe I'm even pausing. I don't know if I would call these ugly. If they were maybe like a different color. These are particularly like, nice to me. They're soothing.

SW: They're kind of brown.

EP: I'm also seeing that he did like leopard print with like pom-poms, which I would totally wear too. I would totally wear these right now right out of here.

DB: Wow. So Emilia really likes these.

SW: Fashionable people like these!

DB: And the rest of the world…?

SW: The rest of the world...is divided. Lots of people are scandalized by it.

DB: Ooooh, scandalized!

SW: 'Crocs have no place on a runway! This isn't fashion!'

DB: A travesty!

EP: I think it's sort of the job of the critic to hear everyone's uproar and say 'wait a minute. Like this is actually kind of great and fabulous. And you know, maybe we should all be wearing Crocs again.'

DB: And that has to be great for Crocs, right? Was this Crocs idea? Did they approach Christopher Kane and they're like, 'hey, wanna make some Crocs?'

SW: No— the other way around! It was Christopher Kane's idea. And this isn't even his last Croc collection.

DB: He keeps coming out with new lines, new styles of Crocs?

SW: Yeah, and he isn't the only one. Like, a year later, have you heard of Balenciaga?

DB: Vaguely.

SW: Okay, they're another like luxury, high fashion house.

DB: That's why it's vaguely.

SW: And they release their own version of the Croc at another fashion week, in 2017. So here it is. It's six inches tall—a platform shoe.

DB: Oh my God, that looks so wrong. It looks like Fisher-Price high heels.

SW: Yeah. It's gigantic.

DB: And it has a lot of what are they called again?

SW: Jibbitz.

DB: Jibbitz. I almost called them giblets.

SW: And the shoe is bright pink. Like, six inches of solid, bubblegummy Croc. Fashion writers like Emilia… are big fans.

EP: I was actually in a store in Los Angeles and the Balenciaga platform pink Croc was on display and I'd never actually like touched one in person and I sort of like gasped and like ran over and picked it up and it was like lighter than I thought and... there's something about its like size and its color and its sort of like plastic sheen that I don't know... I like wanted to take just one and like put it on a shelf in my my room or something like that as like a funny sculpture.

DB: But did she want to put it on her foot?

SW: That is SO not the point, Dan.

DB: I don't get fashion.

SW: But now the Croc isn't just a shoe anymore. It's been elevated to a whole new level.

DB; Is that because it's a platform shoe?

SW: All right, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that. I should also say, while all of this is happening, something else is going on behind the scenes. A new fashion trend is emerging, called Normcore.

DB: What is Normcore?

SW: So it's been around since 2014, and it's gaining momentum throughout this period. And, basically, normcore describes a style that… isn't style. People wearing unbranded sweatshirts, blending in with the masses, looking comfortable and… almost unidentifiable.

DB: So is this like, lack of fashion is fashion.

SW: Yeah… and the reason Crocs work as fashion during this period is because they're not trying to. Does that make sense?

DB: Yeah, it's like their reputation for not being fashionable is what's making actually fashionable here?

SW: Yeah! So, in a way, this second golden age of Crocs is only possible because of the first golden age, because we all had the chance as a society to freak out about Crocs being ugly for a little while.

DB: So this was a kind of destiny.

SW: And that brings us to present-day, to Post Malone.

DB: Right. So everything we just went over was pre-Post Malone, and now we're Post Malone and soon to be post-Post Malone.

SW: Something like that.

So, Post Malone's style builds off of Normcore a little bit. I've seen it described as sleazecore.

DB: Sleazecore? That one I have not heard of.

SW: Yeah, it has elements borrowed from Normcore.

DB: But sleazier.

SW: Exactly. It's a lot of like loose-fitting, really comfortable-looking clothing… but then just kind of grungy.

And Post Malone's stylist, Catherine Hahn, makes sure he's stocked on Crocs specifically.

CH: You know, we would buy him Crocs, and then I got really into buying Jibbitz, picking out which Jibbitz he would like, like oh, the alien, and the smiley face and we would buy Jibbitz that spell out his name and you know we just had so much fun with the jibbitz.

SW: Catherine thinks of her job like a costume designer. Post Malone is a character, and her job is to reflect who he is through what he's wearing.

DB: So are you saying that Post Malone is a Croc?

SW: It's kind of become a symbol for him, yeah. The Croc is a like his attitude distilled.

CH: I mean he's just the kind of guy, he can literally put anything on and it works. You know, it's his personality, he's confident, and whatever he's in he just owns it. And so I feel like that has so much to do with style and... you know, people that are confident and are comfortable in their own skin can kind of wear whatever and make it work.

SW: And so earlier this year, Crocs reached out to him and they were like, "do you want to make a croc with us?"

DB: So it looks like Crocs has finally gotten wiser, and they're like, 'hey, maybe we should talk to these people who like our product.'

SW: Yeah, and this was a really smart collaboration. Crocs released a limited edition Post Malone style in early November, and it sold out within minutes. And then a month later, they released another, which also sold out immediately.

CH: I tried to buy some… I went online, I set my aler—really, I tried, and I could not get a pair…

DB: Wait, Catherine couldn't get a pair, even though she's Post Malone's stylist??

SW: Right!? She ended up getting a pair of both designs as a gift from Post Malone's record company later. But those weren't even her first Crocs! Like, she told me she'd already bought a couple of pairs since she started working for Post Malone.

DB: He inspired her.

SW: She has a black pair and a pink pair, and she really likes them!

DB: Does she feel like she can pull them off?

CH: Well, I wore them to work, and a few of my coworkers were like… 'what are you? I don't know about that…' [laughs] But we'll see.

DB: I'm kind of amazed that even she's not sure if they're the right look.

SW: Yeah, it's funny, because Crocs have come so far since their debut at that Florida boat show in 2002. Like… literal models are wearing these shoes! People who know things about fashion, people like Emilia and Catherine… they're interested in them! It's like Crocs are... cool!?

DB: But at the same time, it sounds like those people still aren't totally sold on them as actual footwear… like, are Emilia and Catherine actually wearing Crocs in their daily lives?

SW: Yeah, in a weird way, it's like the Croc skipped a step. Like, people who don't care about fashion are wearing them because they're comfortable—that's been going on forever. And now people at the very pinnacle of fashion are wearing them because they're… art.

DB: Art.

SW: But the section of people in between—like ranging from people like me and you who… are not trend setters…

DB: Hey, I know what Balenciaga is….. now.

SW: But also people like Emilia and Catherine who care about trends but don't dress like they're walking down a runway every day… our Croc golden age is yet to come.

DB: Maybe next year?

SW: One can hope. But in the meantime, that's how this happened. That's how Post Malone ended up wearing Crocs.

DB? Alright, well, we answered that question. But I vaguely remember something from early on in this episode where you mentioned… eating Crocs?

SW: Oh yeah, I can explain.

DB: Alright, hold on a minute. We have to do some ads, and then I have to hear about this.

ACT III

SW: So, I've brought you back into the studio, Dan, and I've brought our other producer, Amy Pedulla, with me…

AMY PEDULLA: Hello.

SW: ...Because we discovered something else while we were reporting this story that we want to talk to you about.

DB: Okay…

AP: I have a pair of Crocs, and one of the first things I had heard when I bought them was that… they're edible.

DB: Where'd you hear that from, Amy?

AP: Friends! I had… it was just like this sort of weird thing that people had talked about. And I hadn't read anything online, but most people had been telling me… did you know you can eat your Crocs?

SW: So I looked this up, and I want to say first and foremost, NO ONE SHOULD EAT THEIR CROCS.

AP: Please don't. Don't ever.

SW: We want to be very, very clear about this. Crocs are not edible. But… technically… they are non-toxic.

DB: What are you getting at?

SW: So Crocs are made of a material called Croslite, which is patented by Crocs, and it's a kind of plastic polymer called ethylene vinyl acetate, or EVA for short. And, while it's definitely not a good idea to chow down on EVA, you would have to eat a lot of it for it to actually hurt you.

DB: How do you know all of this?

SW: I talked to an expert.

GUNNAR LUNDBERG: I'm Gunnar Lundberg, and I was eighteen years old when I decided to eat my Croc.

SW: Gunnar had heard some of the same rumors that Amy had heard about Crocs… that like if you found yourself on a camping trip gone wrong, let's say a bear ate all your food, you could eat your Crocs as a last resort. And for some reason he thought they might be made of corn?

DB: What?

SW: Yeah. For what it's worth, that is NOT TRUE. But all of this inspires Gunnar to start doing some research for his school paper. And like me, he reads about Croslite, he learns that Crocs are not edible in any traditional sense of the word… and he see the words "non-toxic."

GL: And so at that point I figured you know, I've come this far. I've already pitched the idea, I might as well boil them up and see how they taste.

AP: So, talk us through this. Like, what was the process?

SW: It sounded a lot like making pasta, actually. He filled a pot with water, added a dash of salt and some extra virgin olive oil, and then he boiled a Croc for forty minutes.

GL: Because I figured you know, if you're in a survival situation, you're not going to have a grill or an oven so you'd kind of… the myth was always that you could boil them down into something other than the solid shoe.

DB: Uhhhhh...

[AMY AND SARAH LAUGH]

GL: So in the water, they got a lot softer, and I remember they were kind of getting like a little gooey. Like you could really fold the shoe into weirder shapes, but it wasn't breaking apart in any sort of way.

SW: After 40 minutes, it's time.

AP: Ugh...

DB: And then he took a bite?

SW: Yeah, he cut off a nickel-sized piece of Croc and put it in his mouth...

GL: It basically tasted like a plastic mouth guard. It was chewy, but it didn't really break apart.

DB: Did he swallow it?

SW: He sure did!

AP: Does he have any regrets?

SW: Gunnar has no regrets. (laughs)

SW: There's been some talk bandying about our team about whether somebody on our team should eat a Croc for this episode. And I want your professional opinion: Should I eat a Croc?

GL: Yes. I would do it.

SW: So guys, last night, I went home, I texted my friend Jenni to come over with her audio recorder, and I ate a Croc.

AP: You're kidding.

DB: Oh no.

SW: Okay, so we've boiled the Croc. It's on the kitchen table. I have it plated nicely on a plate with some Sriracha. I have the biggest knife I could find in my house. And, uh…. I'm gonna eat this Croc...

[AMY LAUGHS]

SW: That is the sound of knife meeting resin.

AP: Oh my god

JENNI SIGL: It sounds like a dog toy... that you're about to eat.

SW: That about about to put in my body.

JS: In your human body.

SW: Guys, I cannot emphasize how difficult this is to cut. I feel like we've achieved...the last 40 mins have achieved nothing.

DB: It does kind of cut like frozen butter.

SW: This is a completely raw Croc.

SW: Almost sawed my way through the strap.

AP: (laughs) Good God.

DB: Uh...

SW: Alright going in my mouth.

DB: Oh my god, she's taking the bite!

AP: Looks chewy.

SW: Omg that was not great. I'm gonna try again.

DB: Uh...That facial expression.

SW: It's not coming apart in my mouth. It tastes really bad. Like it's difficult, the English language doesn't have enough words to describe how bad this tastes.

AP: Aaaaand swallowed!

SW: I swallowed it. I swallowed it, Jenni!

JS: Do you feel it sitting in your throat or did it go down?

SW: Yeah it's still fully in my esophagus. Hold on I'm going to drink get water….

JS: Um….I have to go call an ambulance.

DB: So does this count as even eating it? You swallowed a Croc.

SW: I ate a Croc. You can't take that away from me.

AP: Oh my God...Did you chew it?

SW: Yeah, so I chewed it… It did not taste like plastic. Like all of us have tasted what plastic tastes like before. If you've ever had a thermometer in your mouth or used a straw... and this was not like that.

DB: What did it taste like?

SW: It had like a juicy kind of…

DB: Did you say juicy?

SW: Yeah, when I put it in my mouth and bit into it, there was kind of a flavor explosion.

DB: A good flavor explosion?

SW: Absolutely not. The opposite of a good flavor explosion. I've ever eaten something before that I felt so sure I should not eat based on how it tasted. Like honestly, the second, the second that flavor came out - like the second that ducked out from under sriracha -it was like my esophagus was just like nopenopenopenope no I'm not interested in being a part of this.

DB: So what you're saying is that it's edible in the sense you can put in mouth and swallow it's not edible in the sense that you should eat it.

SW: No. And if the myth is that like if you go camping and a bear eats all your food and all you have left is a Croc, that you can like survive on Croc until you get help, I'd like to go on the record as firmly debunking that. I could barely handle a very small bite, let alone an entire croc.

DB: So, bottom line Gunnar said he has no regrets we have to ask you the same question - Sarah Wyman, do you have any regrets about eating this Croc?

SW: I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I have some regrets.

AP: Do you really?

SW: Yeah, for some reason, I really thought that I was gonna feel good after eating this Croc - like, I think i thought that it was a funny thing and that the novelty would be enough that after I had eaten it I would feel like some kind of kick, like I'd feel proud for actually doing it. And I just like - the only thing i felt for hours after eating it was just like nervousness that something was gonna happen. Like I was just hyper-aware of all of my bodily functions - I was like, 'is this normal, is this the croc, how will I know if I have toxic shock syndrome?'

DB: Do you feel like you've grown from this experience?

SW: (laughs) I would say the experience was not all it was Croc'ed up to be.

AP: (laughs)

DB: Well, producer and eater Sarah Wyman who as consumed a Croc so you don't have to.

SW: Please don't.

AP: Don't ever.

DB: And has lived to tell the tale, thank you. And Amy Pedulla - thanks.

AP: Thanks!

CREDITS

DB: Hey, if you like the show and want more, come hang out with us on Twitter and Facebook! This week, a bunch of you posted in our Facebook group about how you found the show and some of the brands you're thinking about these days—we loved reading your responses!

Elizabeth posted that she and her husband were in Curacao and saw a KFC advertising Christmas meals and they couldn't stop laughing.

Anthony told us he thinks a lot about the brand Tofurky. He says he's a loyalist. Anthony…. Maybe we'll do an episode on that someday.

Josh says Sam's Club changed his life. Tell us more, Josh…

On Twitter — I'm — a listener there named René is a comic artist. She heard the preview of today's episode and said she felt a little self-conscious because Crocs are such a staple in her wardrobe that she has multiple self-portraits where she's wearing them. The Crocs in the picture she shared were black with a rainbow sole. It was a cool drawing.

And Simon heard our segment about "genericide" last week — that's when a company's brand name goes generic. He says genericide may be bad for companies, but it's good for consumers. He writes: Velcro is a much more useful word than "hook and loop fasteners," regardless of the manufacturer!

Anyway, we love to hear from you … to get in on the fun, follow me on Twitter at danbobkoff. Search on Facebook for our Household Name Podcast group. Find us on Friendster and MySpace… I'm just kidding.

And don't forget to give us five stars wherever you're listening and leave us a review—we're reading all them!

By the way, you can listen to new episodes of 'Household Name' AD FREE on Stitcher Premium. For a free month trial, go to stitcherpremium.com and use promo code 'HOUSEHOLD'. That's stitcherpremium.com -- promocode HOUSEHOLD.

The producers of Household Name are Sarah Wyman, Amy Pedulla, and me.

You heard some Croc commentary in this episode from Real Time with Bill Maher, The Daily Show, The Dictator, Deal Pool, and The Office.

Special thanks this week to Jennifer Sigl and Anna Mazarakis.

Sound design and original music by Casey Holford and John DeLore.

The executive producers are Chris Bannon, Jenny Radelet and me.

Household Name is a production of Insider Audio.

Source: Business Insider

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