Footwear Testing Programs

[purple]

I had a friend of my mom tell her about product testing for brands like Nike and New Balance. Apparently they take applications to be a product tester and try out new sneakers/footwear and tell them about how it performed. You don't normally get to keep the shoes, but you'd always have a new pair. Has anyone done this? Was it easy to get into?

[Richie]

Why wouldn't they let you keep them I wonder? It's not like that could take the pair that you had and give them then to someone else. That would be yicky, and wouldn't give a good test experience to the next person!

I haven't heard of this, but I'd say that as a T&F athlete you'd be well placed to do this.

[purple]

Since they are often experimental you aren't supposed to wear some of them in public and apparently sometimes they come with all sorts of testing marks (in black marker) and such. They also can't judge the wear pattern without getting them back I imagine. I figured it would be fun to try new shoes if I got in. You can never turn down free chances to try out shoes if you run. :)

[George]

Ah yes I like the sound of this program. It makes sense that they would need them back to see if there are areas of undue wear because of bad design. The not wearing in public would be harder I would imagine, because if you can't wear them out, how do you test them?

[mudskipper]

I applied for Nike's program like this, but got turned down. You can apply again after six months though. I'm guessing perhaps the age range was already filled since they listed T&F as a section they were searching for.