Ninety percent of the ads I see on Facebook are either for shoes (especially with wide sizes), electric cars, or glasses, especially sunglasses and reading glasses. That’s because I’m interested in those things, and keep clicking on attractive ads. What can I say? It keeps me off the street.
The other day, I clicked on a shoe ad and this appeared:
I’ve been on the elusive trail of “trainers” (BrE for American sneakers, running shoes, or tennis shoes) for quite some time. My most recent post is here, and you can follow the trail back to the first one, or simply put “trainers” into the search bar at right.
The New Balance ad seemed a palpable hit. But then I noticed the spellings “colour” and “grey”–the first completely British, the second still predominantly so. And when I clicked through to the “About” page of the company, Wide Fit Shoes, my fears were confirmed.
Oh well. At least I have a field trip for my next visit to London.
notoneoffbritishisms.com 
Did you try the New Balance website?
https://www.newbalance.com/women/shoes/training/#
Interesting! In New Balance’s world, “trainers” are a very specific kind of show, designed for, well, “training”: “Training doesn’t stop when the gym closes, and neither should your footwear functionality. Women’s trainers are typically designed surrounding one exercise style. We broke the mold and engineered shoes to shift seamlessly among environments, simplifying your workouts and daily life.”
fears????
Alarm???
Have you been watching too many American movies where the Brits are always the villains?
Are we and our version of the language (the clue’s in the name ‘English’) really so frightening?
Richard, “fears” was meant to be humorous, to the effect that I was initially excited that I had spotted an American “trainers,” but unfortunately (as I feared) the advert turned out to be from a British company.
Ben
Good! I thought you’d been watching too many movies where the Brits are always the villains!
was there ever a “plimsoll” sighting?
there was an American band called The Plimsouls who had a hit with their song “A Million Miles Away” in the early 80s. I always thought it was interesting that their name was a play on words that most people in their home country wouldn’t even get.