Created by Brazilian flip-flop brand Brizza, in collaboration with Pedigree and advertising agency Mirum Brazil, the world’s first unchewable flip-flops are made with the most bitter substance known to man.

Dogs’ love for chewing footwear is well documented. Pups do it to release pain as their teeth grow, other dogs do it out of boredom or some form of stress, and some just like chewing stuff. While most times we see humorous depictions of pooches ruining their owners’ shoes, the reality is that this habit puts them at risk of very serious gastrointestinal problems. Data shows that in a third of gastrointestinal surgery procedures to foreign objects from the intestines of dogs, the ingested substance is footwear rubber, mostly from flip-flops. Seeing as this can cause life-threatening problems for the poor animals., flip-flop brand Brizza decided to create the world’s first unchewable flip-flops.

Photo: Brizza/Mirum Brazil

While brainstorming ideas about how to go about making flip-flops that dogs wouldn’t chew, it was established that, ideally, they could incorporate something that pooches found repulsive. That’s where the expertise of pet-food brand Pedigree came into play, as they were the ones who suggested using denatonium benzoate, the most bitter chemical in the world.

“When we were looking at ideas to create this dog-friendly flip-flop, we wanted to find something which would create a repulsive taste for them, something inedible,” Maria Toledo, brand director at Brizza, said. “That’s where the support and expertise of Pedigree came in. And it was by including this extremely bitter (yet very safe) compound at the beginning of our production that we delivered the perfect results.”

 

Apparently, denatonium benzoate is known as the most powerful bittering agent in the world for a reason. A single drop is enough to make an Olympic-size pool of water taste noticeably bitter, yet it is safe for consumption. It is actually widely used in the pet industry to discourage animals from biting and licking things they shouldn’t.

The non-toxic flip-flops were first announced in April on Brizza’s social channels and is expected to hit Brazilian stores in the near future. No news on an international release, though.