Critics Say New Balance 'DAD/&' Shoe Gives Some Middle-Aged Fathers Unfair Advantage
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A cutting-edge “casual comfort cross training” shoe from New Balance gives the middle-aged dads who wear them an unfair edge over their peers, critics say, fueling a growing debate over technology’s role in modern fatherhood.
The “DAD/&” (pronounced “Dad Amp”) retails for $230—around three times as much as simpler New Balance dad shoes. Like previous New Balance models popular with 40-to-60-something straight white men in rural and suburban America, the DAD/& boasts a white leather upper, navy blue N logo, and “plenty of support and cushioning for today’s comfort-seeking dad,” according to New Balance.
Unlike other models, however, the DAD/& also includes a thick sole containing Amp™ technology that’s “scientifically proven to improve performance in a wide variety of dad tasks.”
Those tasks, the company said, include barbecuing, yard work, shopping at Lowes, pressure washing, taking out the trash, organizing the garage, and “anything involving a ladder.”
The performance advantage is a significant one, independent tests have shown. All else being equal, a man wearing DAD/& shoes will mow a quarter-acre of grass 12 percent faster than a man wearing “normal” New Balance dad shoes.
This gap, combined with the DAD/&’s hefty price tag, has led to calls for regulation or even an outright ban on such technology.
“A middle-aged dad’s performance should be about how much meat he can fit on the grill, how he can handle a riding mower, how skillfully he wields a gas-powered leaf blower,” said Tom Bradford, a 53-year-old father of four in Grandview Heights, Ohio. “In short, it should be about the man. Not about his shoes.”
Not everyone agrees.
“Technology is everywhere,” said Willie Aames, 47, a father of two in Brentwood, Tennessee. “And that’s a good thing. It’s called progress.”
“Should we expect dads today to wear canvas sneakers?” he asked rhetorically. “Cook over open fires? Drive cars with no bottoms, so you have to use your feet to get around, like in The Flintstones?”
Adam Goodeve, 58, a father of three in Granger, Indiana, agreed, saying he’s not bothered by dads who achieve extraordinary things while wearing high-tech shoes.
“Last weekend,” he said, “I saw a guy in my neighborhood take down 300 feet of Halloween lights, a six-foot inflatable spider, and three life-sized plastic skeletons, pack them all away, and chug a beer—all in under 10 minutes.”
“Yes, he was wearing a pair of DAD/&’s. So what? It was still inspirational.”
New Balance said it plans to roll out a more affordable version of the DAD/&, “for sub-elite men who still crave top-shelf performance.” That model, the DAD-X-Plus, will retail for $180.
