(Photo/Weibo)

World famous shoe brand Converse, which is popular among China’s hip youngsters, has triggered intensive criticism on Chinese social platform for demanding customers to wear Converse for a newly-released shoe sale.

At a shopping mall in eastern China’s Shandong province, people were required to have on Converse shoes and clothes to enter the store in order to “show respect to the company.” Not limited to its unreasonable dressing code, people were also forced to wait in a long line for their purchases.

The marketing strategy was heavily criticized on Chinese social platform. Some questioned if Converse would be able develop and generate profits, despite the brand’s long-cultivated reputation and quality.

“Converse’s arrogant attitude toward the Chinese market will definitely drive potential consumers away,” one netizen commented.

Later on Tuesday, Converse apologized on its official Sina Weibo account for the store’s requirements to purchase shoes and promised to exam its shops in response to the snowballing opposition. However, the statement failed to allay people’s anger, as it did not give a sound explanation for the dress code requirement.

Buying shoes through a lottery system is not rare for shoes enthusiasts, as other shoes brands such as Supreme have already made bold attempts in marketing, but it is only applicable to limited edition shoes or replicas.

Meanwhile, the newly-released shoe that drew the attention, Converse 1970, is not limited, and it is also available at many stores on China’s e-commerce platform Taobao.com.

Some experts pointed out that Converse may have initially aimed to boost its continuously declining market share after challenged by Vans and Puma since 2016.

In fiscal year 2018, the sales of Converse shoes fell 14% year-on-year to $512 million in the fourth quarter, and its annual sales suffered an 11% decrease to $1.89 billion.

However, its focus on slick marketing methods will damage the brand’s reputation in long run, Beijing News commented.