On a recent early morning, our household learned about two new items on the market that we’re unlikely to hurry to order for our personal enjoyment.
The thought of plant-based meatless meat products is enough to get the stomach turning every-which-way, but the news story had more startling news than phoney burgers at fast food outlets.
Now Hershey Canada is messing with chocolate bars. The company has produced its first plant-based bar made with oat flour instead of dairy chocolate. These non-chocolate chocolate bars come in two flavours: extra creamy almond and sea salt or classic dark.
The company says the product is vegan, non-GMO Project verified and has no artificial flavours. Hmmm. I might try a tiny corner if someone else made the purchase but I will save my own money for chocolate bars that have real chocolate, chocolate that melts when left out on a sunny spot on the table.
The second item, produced by a well-known shoe company, brought nothing but laughter when the details were provided on this same early morning. My rodeo friends will no doubt get a kick out of the mere idea, but I doubt they will run to the shoe store for Croc’s Classic Cowboy Boot.
That’s right pardners, there’s a new boot in town, released just in time to celebrate Croc Day on Oct. 23. The photo on the company’s web page shows a boot that the cowboys and cowgirls I’ve known over the years would laugh right out of the rodeo arena.
The company claims the limited edition Croctober Boot was “made for our fans and inspired by our fans’ creativity.” Have any of those fans ever noticed the footwear of cowboys and cowgirls? Doubt it.
This boot features a signature crockskin texture, metallic disco desert embroidery details and a spinning spur on the back “so you can really kick up some dirt.”
And there’s more: Each boot has a Croc star jibbitz charm, a 2023 cowboy Duke jibbitz charm and plenty of room for more personalization. I had to do some research to learn about jibbitzs, discovering they are decorations clipped to ventilation holes in Crocs.
But surely the makers of the Croc cowboy boot did some of their own research to learn that holes in cowboy boots are not the most practical design for real cowboys.
I was wrong in my assumption. Indeed, the company proudly claims the boots have a comfy footbed and “vent holes for breathability.”
The spur on the back will be kicking up more than dust the first time the Croc boot hits a pile of horse apples or wet cow pies. That will definitely be a squishy conundrum for bull riders and barrel racers who brave the laughter of the rodeo arena to wear Croc’s classic cowboy boot, with holes for breathability.
Joyce Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
