METHODS AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS FOR EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR A CAUSE AND DISDAIN FOR A RIVAL CAUSE

Abstract

Methods and products for expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause and associated methods are provided. The consumer products include an upper portion including insignia representative of the first cause and a bottom portion including insignia representative of the second cause recognizable as a rival of the first cause. The relative locations on the consumer products of the insignia representative of the first cause and the insignia representative of the second cause symbolize devotion to the first cause and disdain for the second cause.

Description

FIELD

[0001] This application generally relates to consumer products and more specifically, to consumer products for expressing support for one cause and dislike of a rival cause.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Consumers often purchase, use, and wear products that express support for certain causes important to consumers. For example, students may purchase clothing that displays the emblem or name of their school, college, or university, or the name of a particular program or club (e.g., sports (e.g., football) or another competitive team (e.g., debate), undergraduate or graduate program (e.g., film, music, pharmacy, dentistry, medicine), or the like). In another example, sports fans who support one or more teams often purchase clothing that displays the logo or name of their favorite teams. In yet another example, some consumers purchase products to support social, political, or other causes that are important to them (e.g., pink-colored clothing or clothing having a pink ribbon to support breast cancer awareness).

[0003] Many causes (e.g., teams, universities, organizations) supported by consumers have well established rivals that can make the consumers even more passionate about their cause. For example, a student of a university (e.g., USC, Michigan, Florida) who owns no t-shirt, sweatshirt, or hat representative of his/her university may be more likely to purchase such a t-shirt, sweatshirt, or hat when this student plans to attend a football, basketball, or baseball game against that university's closest rival (e.g., UCLA, Ohio State, Florida State). In another example, a fan of a professional sports team (e.g., Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Yankees) is more likely to wear and/or buy a jersey representative of his/her team when this fan plans to attend a game against this teams closest rival (e.g., Kansas City Chiefs, Boston Celtics, Boston Red Sox). Also, a person may be more likely to buy a consumer product that supports an effort to find a cure for a particular diseases when someone related or otherwise important to that person has been diagnosed and/or died from that disease.

[0004] Generally, supporters of a given cause (e.g., sports team, university, disease, social problem, or the like) not only have strong feelings of support/devotion for their cause, but also have very strong feelings of disdain/dislike for the rival cause. Accordingly, it may be just as important for certain supporters of a given cause to not only express support for the cause important to the consumers, but to express disapproval of the rival cause.

SUMMARY

[0005] Generally, the present application describes methods and products that express devotion to one cause while expressing disdain for a rivaling cause, thereby providing consumers with the ability to use consumer products not only to express their support for causes important to the consumers, but also to express disapproval of the rival cause.

[0006] In some embodiments, a consumer product for expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause has an upper portion including one or more insignia representative of the first cause and a bottom portion including one or more insignia representative of the second cause. The first and second causes are rivals relative to each other and the relative locations of the insignia representative of the first cause and the insignia representative of the second cause on the consumer product symbolize devotion to the first cause and disdain for the second cause.

[0007] In one aspect, the first cause is a first sports team and the second cause is a second sports team recognizable as a rival of the first sports team. It will be appreciated that rivals in sports may be established by factors such as geographical proximity of the teams, number of matches between the teams, importance of the matches between the teams, or historically relevant controversy/animosity during the matches between the teams. In another aspect, the first cause is an organization dedicated to finding a cure for a disease and the second cause is a name of the disease. In other words, the rivals in this example are cure and disease. In yet another aspect, the first cause is a positive social message relative to a social problem and the second cause is the name of the social problem.

[0008] In some embodiments, the insignia located on the consumer product can include one or more logos, badges, emblems, banners, slogans, images, alphanumeric characters, and colors. In some aspects, the upper portion includes an upper-facing surface and the bottom portion includes a bottom-facing surface, with the insignia representative of the first cause being located on the upper-facing surface and the insignia representative of the second cause being located on the bottom-facing surface. In one aspect, the insignia representative of the first cause is located above the insignia representative of the second cause to create an effect that the first cause is superior to the second cause.

[0009] In some aspects, the consumer product is a shoe, the upper portion of the consumer product is an upper of the shoe and the bottom portion of the consumer product is an outsole of the shoe. In one aspect, the insignia representative of the first cause is visible when the consumer product is in normal use and the insignia representative of the second cause is not visible when the consumer product is in normal use. In one aspect, the insignia representative of the second cause is located on the bottom-facing surface of the outersole to create an effect that the first cause is stepping on (i.e., trumps) the second cause when the shoe is in normal use.

[0010] In some embodiments, a method of expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause includes: providing a consumer product with an upper portion including at least one insignia representative of the first cause; providing the consumer product with a bottom portion including at least one insignia representative of the second cause, the first and second causes being rivals relative to each other; and symbolizing, via relative locations of the at least one insignia representative of the first cause and the at least one insignia representative of the second cause, devotion to the first cause and disdain for the second cause.

[0011] The products and methods described in the present application advantageously permit consumers to use consumer products to visibly express their devotion, support, or approval to their chosen cause while expressing disdain, disapproval, or dislike for a competing, opposing, or rival cause, which may encourage more consumers to buy such consumer products in larger quantities, thereby increasing profits for manufacturers/retailers.

[0012] These and other advantages will be apparent upon consideration of the present specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Disclosed herein are embodiments of methods and products for expressing support for a cause while expressing disdain for a rival cause. This description includes drawings, wherein:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective side view of an exemplary consumer product in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective top view of the exemplary consumer product of FIG. 1;

[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective side view of another exemplary consumer product in accordance with some embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective rear view of yet another exemplary consumer product in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0018] FIG. 5 is a flow chart diagram of a method for expressing support for a cause while expressing disdain for a rival cause in accordance with some embodiments.

[0019] Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common, well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of exemplary embodiments. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in an embodiment," and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary consumer product 100 for expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause. The consumer product 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a shoe. It will be appreciated, however, that the consumer product 100 is shown as a shoe by way of example only, and that the consumer product 100 may be any consumer product, including but not limited to an article of clothing (e.g., shoe, head gear (e.g., hat, visor, helmet, or the like), shirt, pants, shorts, gloves, or the like, a household product or furniture, or an office product or furniture (e.g., cup, coffee mug, mouse pad, place mat, floor mat, coaster, trash receptacle, umbrella), or the like).

[0022] The consumer product 100 of FIG. 1 includes an upper portion 110 and a bottom portion 120. Given that the consumer product 100 of FIG. 1 is a shoe, the upper portion 110 is an upper of the shoe, and the bottom portion 120 is an outsole of the shoe. In some aspects, the shoe is an athletic shoe or sneaker. In other aspects, the shoe is a non-athletic shoe.

[0023] The upper portion 110 of the consumer product 100 of FIG. 1 includes one or more insignia 130 representative of a first cause that is represented in a positive light by the consumer product 100. In other words, the insignia 130 on the consumer product 100 indicates that a user of the consumer product 100 supports the first cause, is in favor of the first cause, or is otherwise devoted to the first cause. Conversely, the bottom portion 110 of the consumer product 100 of FIG. 1 includes one or more insignia 140 representative of a second cause that is represented in a negative light by the consumer product 100. In other words, the insignia 130 on the consumer product 100 indicates that a user of the consumer product 100 does not support the second cause, is against the second cause, or otherwise feels disdain for the second cause The causes represented by the insignia 130, 140 on the consumer product 100 may include a variety of causes of interest to consumers, and more specifically, to a wide variety of causes where two causes are related to one another as rivals. The term "rival" or "rivals" will be understood refer to two causes having an opposing, competing, or otherwise disagreeable relationship relative to each other.

[0024] The insignia 130, 140 may include any symbol, word, or phrase that represents and/or indicates support for a given cause and/or represents a given cause in a positive light or in a negative light. For example, in some embodiments, the insignia 130, 140 includes but is not limited to a logo, a badge, an emblem, a banner, a slogans, an image, alphanumeric characters (e.g., a word and/or a phrase and/or numbers), colors, and the like. The precise number of insignia 130 on the upper portion 110 of the consumer product 100 is shown by way of example only, and it will be appreciated that the upper portion 110 of the consumer product 100 may include only one, two, three, four, five, or more than five insignias 130. Similarly, it will be appreciated that the precise number of insignia 140 on the bottom portion 110 of the consumer product 100 is shown by way of example only, and that the bottom portion 110 of the consumer product 100 may include only one, two, three, four, five, or more than five insignias 140.

[0025] In some embodiments, the insignia 130, 140 is applied to the consumer product 100 via an adhesive (e.g., a sticker or the like). In other embodiments, the insignia 130, 140 can be applied to the consumer product 100 via a variety of techniques including but not limited to stitching, painting, lamination, or the like.

[0026] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the relative locations of the insignia 130 representative of the first cause and the insignia 140 representative of the second cause symbolize devotion to the first cause and disdain for the second cause. In other words, in some embodiments, the first insignia 130 representative of the first cause is located on the consumer product 100 such that it represents the first cause in a positive light and/or as superior relative to the rival second cause, while the second insignia 140 representative of the second cause is located on the consumer product 100 such that it represents the second cause in a negative light and/or as inferior relative to the first cause.

[0027] For example, in some embodiments, the first insignia 130 is located on an upper-facing surface of the consumer product 100 while the second insignia 140 is located on a bottom-facing surface of the consumer product 100. In yet other embodiments, the first insignia 130 is located proximate the top of the consumer product 100 while the second insignia 140 is located proximate the bottom of the consumer product 100. In yet other embodiments, the first insignia 130 is located proximate the top of the consumer product 100 while the second insignia 140 is located proximate the bottom of the consumer product 100. In yet other embodiments, the location of the first insignia 130 on the consumer product 100 is above the location of the second insignia 140 on the consumer product 100. In yet other embodiments, the first and second insignia 130, 140 are located on the consumer product 100 such that the first insignia 130 representative of the first cause is visible when the consumer product 100 is in normal use, while the second insignia 140 representative of the second cause is not visible when the consumer product 100 is in normal use.

[0028] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the upper portion 110 of the consumer product 100 includes an upper-facing surface 150 and the bottom portion 120 of the consumer product 100 includes a bottom-facing surface 160. In FIG. 1, the insignia 130 representative of the first cause is located on the upper-facing surface 150 of the upper portion 110 of the consumer product 100 and the insignia 140 representing the second cause is located on the bottom-facing surface 160 of the bottom portion 120 (in this embodiment, an outersole) of the consumer product 100 to create an effect that the first cause is stepping on (i.e., is superior to or trumps) the second cause when the consumer product 100 (in this embodiment, a shoe) is in normal use.

[0029] In some exemplary embodiments, the cause represented by the insignia 130, 140 relates to sports. In one aspect, the first cause represented by insignia 130 is a first sports team and the second cause represented by insignia 140 is a second sports team recognizable as a rival of the first sports team. For example, the first cause represented by insignia 130 can be a professional football team (e.g., Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers), professional baseball team (e.g., Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs), professional basketball team (e.g., Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks), a professional hockey team (e.g., Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadians, Chicago Blackhawks), or any other professional or amateur (e.g., university, college, or high school) team, and the second cause represented by insignia 140 can be a professional football team (e.g., Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens), professional baseball team (e.g., San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals), professional basketball team (e.g., Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs), a professional hockey team (e.g., San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues), or any other professional or amateur (e.g., university, college, or high school) team generally recognized as a rival of the team represented by the insignia 130.

[0030] In some embodiments, the cause represented by the insignia 130, 140 does not relate to sports. In one aspect, the first cause represented by insignia 130 is a an organization or a symbol associated with the development of a cure for, or more generally a fight against a disease and the second cause represented by insignia 140 is the name of this disease. For example, the first cause represented by insignia 130 can be a pink ribbon representing breast cancer awareness, a blue ribbon representing colon cancer awareness, a gray ribbon representing brain cancer awareness, a yellow ribbon representing bladder cancer awareness, or the like, and the second cause represented by insignia 140 can be the name of the disease (e.g., breast cancer, colon cancer, brain cancer, bon cancer, cancer in general, or the like) recognized as the "rival" of the cause represented by the insignia 130. It will be appreciated that the first cause represented by the insignia 130 is not limited to a symbol, logo, or emblem such as a ribbon, but may be in the form of a statement, slogan, or message (i.e., "Find The Cure!", "Just Beat It!", "Fight The Fight!", "Cancer-Free," "Say No To Cancer," or the like) designed to represent a positive message supportive of society's or an individual fight against cancer. It will also be appreciated that instead of an inspirational message, the first cause represented by the insignia 130 may be in the form of a name of an organization devoted to finding a cure or treatment for cancer in general or specific types of cancer (e.g., "Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center," "City of Hope," "American Cancer Society," "Cancer Research Foundation," or the like). It will be appreciated that cancer is discussed herein for illustrative purposes only, and any other disease or medical condition and the associated rival (i.e., cure and/or treatment-oriented) organizations, symbols, and slogans, can be represented by the insignia 130, 140.

[0031] In some embodiments, the cause represented by the insignia 130, 140 does not relate to sports or diseases. In one aspect, the first cause represented by insignia 130 is a an organization or symbol associated with the fight against a social problem (e.g., hunger, poverty, homelessness, or the like) and the second cause represented by insignia 140 is the name of this social problem. For example, the first cause represented by insignia 130 can be a symbol, emblem, slogan, or picture associated with food or eating, alone, or in combination with an anti-hunger slogan (e.g., "Stop Child Hunger!", "Act Against Hunger!", "Stop Hunger Now!", or the like), and the second cause represented by insignia 140 can be the name of the social problem (e.g., hunger, child hunger, starvation, or the like) recognized as the "rival" of the cause represented by insignia 130.

[0032] It will be appreciated that hunger, poverty, and homelessness are discussed herein illustrative purposes only. In other words, the present invention provides itself equally well to consumer products relating to any social issue or problem where two opposing views exist (e.g., women's rights, gay/lesbian rights, rights of people of color, global warming/climate change issues, anti-war sentiment, pro-life/pro-choice debate, veteran's rights, senior citizen's rights, or the like). For example, in one aspect, the first cause represented by insignia 130 on the consumer product 100 is the name of an organization, symbol, picture, or slogan associated with the development of clean energy and the second cause represented by insignia 140 is a symbol, emblem, picture, or slogan associated with global warming or industrial pollution.

[0033] More generally, the present invention provides itself well to any causes, issues, or ideas, where one cause, issue, view, or idea is closely associated with a rival (i.e., opposing) cause, issue, view, or idea. In other words, the consumer products described herein can be effectively utilize to express devotion to any one cause, issue, view, or idea while simultaneously expressing disdain for the rival cause, issue, view, or idea.

[0034] While FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a shoe as an exemplary consumer product 100, the consumer product 100 according to the principles described herein is not limited to a shoe or to a wearable article as discussed above. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates a different exemplary consumer product 200 for expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause. The exemplary consumer product 200 in FIG. 3 is a cup (and may, in other aspects, instead be a mug, thermos, or any other vessel used to hold drinkable beverages).

[0035] The consumer product 200 of FIG. 3 includes an upper portion 210 and a bottom portion 220. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, the upper portion 210 of the consumer product 200 represents the sidewalls and handle of the consumer product 200, and the bottom portion 220 represents the bottom-facing rim-like surface that typically contacts the support structure on which the consumer product 200 is placed, and the indented (e.g., concave) surface located within the rim like support surface. The upper portion 210 of the consumer product 200 of FIG. 3 includes one or more insignia 230 representative of a first cause that is represented in a positive light by the consumer product 200. Conversely, the bottom portion 220 of the consumer product 200 includes one or more insignia 240 representative of a second cause that is represented in a negative light by the consumer product 200. As discussed above with reference to consumer product 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2, the causes represented by the insignia 230, 240 on the consumer product 200 may include a wide variety of causes of interest to consumers, for example, to a wide variety of causes where two causes are related to one another as rivals.

[0036] FIG. 4 illustrates another exemplary consumer product 300 for expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause. The consumer product 300 illustrated in FIG. 4 is a baseball cap (and may be in other aspects a hat, beanie, helmet, or any other article of clothing used for wearing on a user's head). With reference to FIG. 4, the consumer product 300 includes an upper portion 310 and a bottom portion 320. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, the upper portion 310 of the consumer product 300 represents the upward-facing portion of the visor and the forward-facing portion of the consumer product 300, and the bottom portion 320 represents the downward-facing surface of the visor (and may represent a portion of or the entire underside surface of the cap meant to be in contact with the user's head.

[0037] The upper portion 310 of the consumer product 300 of FIG. 4 includes insignia 330 representative of a first cause that is represented in a positive light by the consumer product 300. While the cap 300 of FIG. 4 includes two insignias 330 (i.e., one on the forward-facing side of the upper portion 310 of the cap 300, and one on the rearward-facing side of the upper portion 310 of the cap 300), it will be appreciated that the cap 300 can include less insignias 330 (e.g., only one insignia 330 on the forward-facing side of the upper portion 310 and no insignia 330 on the rearward-facing side of the upper portion 310), or more insignias 330 (e.g., additional insignias 330 on the right-facing and/or left-facing side of the upper portion 310).

[0038] The bottom portion 320 of the consumer product 300 of FIG. 4 includes insignia 340 representative of a second cause that is represented in a negative light by the consumer product 300. While the cap 300 of FIG. 4 includes only one insignia 340 (i.e., on the underside of the visor), it will be appreciated that the cap 300 can include more insignias 340 (e.g., two or more insignias 340 on other portions of the bottom portion 320 of the cap 300. As discussed above with reference to the exemplary consumer product 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2, the causes represented by the insignia 330, 340 on the consumer product 300 may include a wide variety of causes of interest to consumers, for example, to a wide variety of causes where two causes are related to one another as rivals.

[0039] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a method 400 of expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause. The method 400 includes providing a consumer product 100 with an upper portion 110 including at least one insignia 130 representative of the first cause (step 410) and providing the consumer product 100 with a bottom portion 120 including at least one insignia 140 representative of the second cause (step 420). As descried above, the first and second causes are rivals relative to each other. In other words, the first and second causes are competing and/or opposing relative to each other.

[0040] As discussed above, the first and second causes may represent rival causes, issues, views, or ideas including but not limited those relating to sports, education, medicine, social issues, or the like, and more generally may represent rival causes to which the consumers are devoted or otherwise feel passionate about enough to feel the desire to express themselves in a way that expresses devotion to their cause and disdain for the rival cause. The method 500 of FIG. 5 further includes symbolizing, via relative locations on the consumer product 100 of the one insignia 130, 140 representative of the first and second causes, devotion to the first cause and disdain for the second cause (step 530). As discussed above, in some embodiments, the insignia 130 representative of the first cause is located on the consumer product 100 (e.g., on an upper-facing surface, exterior-facing surface, or proximate a top thereof) to create an effect of devotion to, support of, admiration of, or superiority of the first cause relative to the second cause represented by the insignia 140, which may be located on the consumer product 100 (e.g., on a bottom-facing surface, interior-facing surface, or proximate a bottom thereof) to create an effect that the second cause is disdained, opposed, or inferior relative to the first cause.

[0041] The methods and products described herein enable consumers to express their devotion to one cause while expressing their disdain for a rivaling cause, thereby enhancing the message of the consumer products when in use to not only express support for a cause important to a consumer, but to express the consumer's disapproval of the rival cause. The enhanced expression embodied in the consumer products and methods described herein may advantageously enhance the desire of consumers to purchase such products and not only to increase the consumers' affinity for their causes and for such products, but also to increase revenue for product manufacturers, their licensees, and the like.

[0042] Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of other modifications, alterations, and combinations can also be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventive concept.

Claims

1. A consumer product for expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause, the consumer product comprising: an upper portion including at least one insignia representative of the first cause; and a bottom portion including at least one insignia representative of the second cause; wherein the first and second causes are rivals relative to each other; and wherein the relative locations of the at least one insignia representative of the first cause and the at least one insignia representative of the second cause symbolize devotion to the first cause and disdain for the second cause.

2. The consumer product of claim 1, wherein the first cause is a first sports team and the second cause is a second sports team recognizable as a rival of the first sports team.

3. The consumer product of claim 1, wherein the first cause is an organization dedicated to finding a cure for a disease and the second cause is a name of the disease.

4. The consumer product of claim 1, wherein the first cause is a positive social message relative to a social problem and the second cause is the name of the social problem.

5. The consumer product of claim 1, wherein the at least one insignia comprises a logo, a badge, a flag, an emblem, a slogan, an image, alphanumeric characters, and colors.

6. The consumer product of claim 1, wherein the upper portion includes an upper-facing surface and the bottom portion includes a bottom-facing surface, and wherein the at least one insignia representative of the first cause is on the upper-facing surface and the at least one insignia representative of the second cause is located on the bottom-facing surface.

7. The consumer product of claim 1, wherein the at least one insignia representative of the first cause is located above the at least one insignia representative of the second cause to create an effect that the first cause is superior to the second cause.

8. The consumer product of claim 1, wherein the consumer product is a shoe, and wherein the upper portion is an upper of the shoe and the bottom portion is an outsole of the shoe.

9. The consumer product of claim 8, wherein the at least one insignia representative of the first cause is visible when the consumer product is in normal use and the at least one insignia representative of the second cause is not visible when the consumer product is in normal use.

10. The consumer product of claim 8, wherein the at least one insignia representative of the second cause is located on the bottom-facing surface of the outersole to create an effect that the first cause is stepping on the second cause when the shoe is in normal use.

11. A method of expressing devotion to a first cause and disdain for a second cause, the method comprising: providing a consumer product with an upper portion including at least one insignia representative of the first cause; providing the consumer product with a bottom portion including at least one insignia representative of the second cause, the first and second causes being rivals relative to each other; and symbolizing, via relative locations of the at least one insignia representative of the first cause and the at least one insignia representative of the second cause, devotion to the first cause and disdain for the second cause.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first cause is a first sports team and the second cause is a second sports team recognizable as a rival of the first sports team.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first cause is an organization dedicated to finding a cure for a disease and the second cause is a name of the disease.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the first cause is a positive social message relative to a social problem and the second cause is the name of the social problem.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one insignia comprises a logo, a badge, a flag, an emblem, a slogan, an image, alphanumeric characters, and colors.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the upper portion includes an upper-facing surface and the bottom portion includes a bottom-facing surface, and wherein the at least one insignia representative of the first cause is on the upper-facing surface and the at least one insignia representative of the second cause is located on the bottom-facing surface.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one insignia representative of the first cause is located above the at least one insignia representative of the second cause to create an effect that the first cause is superior to the second cause.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the consumer product is a shoe, and wherein the upper portion is an upper of the shoe and the bottom portion is an outsole of the shoe.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one insignia representative of the first cause is visible when the consumer product is in normal use and the at least one insignia representative of the second cause is not visible when the consumer product is in normal use.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one insignia representative of the second cause is located on the bottom-facing surface of the outersole to create an effect that the first cause is stepping on the second cause when the shoe is in normal use.