Commuters in the Swedish capital of Stockholm are used to the rows of colourful, rental e-scooters dotted around town. Recently though, the scooters were joined by Reebok To Go – an initiative to get anyone and everyone to hire brand new pairs of shoes fitted with GPS for free.
The soles of the shoes also have a GPS tag, so each pair can be tracked on a map
The new "Sneaker Sharing" initiative has been designed to challenge people with the tagline of "Why ride when you can use your feet?”. Reebok To Go works in a similar way to rental scooters. The shoes are equipped with a QR- Code you simply scan with your phone. Once you have entered your details, it's just a case of putting them on and away you go. The soles of the shoes also have a GPS tag, so each pair can be tracked on a map.
Behind all of this is the recent focus in Sweden on how moving can affect wellbeing. Doctor and author Anders Hansen discussed the benefits of training for mental health earlier this year, which became one of the year's most listened-to programmes on Swedish Radio.
It follows statistics from the WHO, which showed that a quarter of Swedes do not get enough exercise. "People are moving around less, which negatively impacts their health," said Nicolas Nath, Nordic brand director at Reebok.
"As mental health problems grow – especially among younger people – this can cause serious problems. E-scooters have evolved from being a fun, new thing into the de facto mode of city transportation. So we saw an opportunity to remind people how beneficial it is to move around more. You don't need hours at the gym – you just need a pair of shoes."
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