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In 2013, Vibram the company that manufactures the FiveFingers barefoot shoes settled a class action suit led by consumers who alleged that the company deceived customers by advertising that the footwear could reduce foot injuries and strengthen foot muscles, without basing those assertions on any scientific merit.
This was following the heyday of the barefoot running trend. You may remember it: Some runners eschewed modern footwear to run in minimalist shoes or completely barefoot because they perceived it as being more in line with the way our bodies were naturally meant to move. It was a small, but significant, fringe group within the sport and it caught a lot of media attention.