YouTuber Who Made Crocs Gloves Gets Hit With Cease and Desist

Ella Chochrek

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YouTuber Matt Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions had a viral hit on his hands with a pair of fingerless Crocs gloves — but the brand was less than impressed. Benedetto posted a video to YouTube Friday saying that Crocs had sent him a cease and desist letter after catching wind of his invention.

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“Basically they wanted me to take [the video] down because I was using the Crocs name and the Crocs logo” he said. “I definitely understand them sending this to me.”

The gloves, which Benedetto made using a 3D printer, were picked up by a number of media outlets. They also were trending on Reddit, making it to the front page of the social media platform.

The YouTuber said he knew Crocs would see the video once it went viral. He expected that if Crocs reached out to him, either the brand would be impressed and send him some free swag, or ask him to take the video down — so he wasn’t all that surprised to get hit with a cease and desist.

Even though Benedetto wasn’t shocked about Crocs’ response, he felt he was within his rights to create the product.

View this post on Instagram

Crocs Gloves™️ Your dad’s favorite shoes are now available for your hands. The first ever pair of Crocs Gloves feature all the best things from the shoes, including that thick foam material and safety strap. Start getting all your household chores done in style. Watch how these were made on YouTube – link in bio! #unnecessaryinventions

A post shared by Unnecessary Inventions (@unnecessaryinventions) on Jul 29, 2019 at 9:04am PDT

“If you look at my inventions, it’s very clear that all of my products are made completely out of parody,” he explained. “I thought I was within fair use.” (Parody is explicitly protected under U.S. trademark law.)

The inventor said he replied to Crocs but has not heard back from the brand yet.

Crocs did not immediately respond to FN’s request for comment.

Watch the video below to see Iris Apfel discuss shoe trends.

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