History Main / SmellyFeet

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->''Marguerite, go wash your feet\\
The Board of Health is across the street.''
-->-- '''Nursery Rhyme'''

As with any other part of the body, feet can smell bad. However, because people nowadays tend to stuff them in shoes all day and never expose them to light or air they tend to spend most of their time [[{{Squick}} stewing in their own rancid sweat]]. This has given rise to the idea that feet ''are naturally smelly'' when actually bare feet don't smell any more than any other patch of skin. In actual fact that smell is from the [[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12171.html literally hundreds of different types of bacteria and fungus]] that love to live in the warm dark sweaty interiors of shoes.

But there is something oddly entertaining about the idea of smelly feet and it's been one of the most common tropes in family-themed media. Children find the concept of smelly feet to be humorous, as evidenced by the popular children's song "Trick or treat/Smell my feet/Gimme something good to eat." Even babies seem to find smelly feet funny; a common game parents sometimes play with their babies is to pretend to smell their baby feet and booties. TruthInTelevision, indeed.

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!!Examples:
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[[folder:Advertising]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbPVxqARp4Y This]] advertisement for Chuck E. Cheese.
* Odor-Eaters: "Uh-oh, foot odor!"
* Combined with GiantFootOfStomping in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvArSGv6DGc this foot deodorant ad.]]
* In this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay56C5abX2A Advertisement for Kiwi Foot Doderant]] A frustrated, pisssed off office worker seemingly Becomes a KickChick when she takes off her shoes and starts "kicking" Her office mates in the faces. We see a close up of her feet that are actually shown with white smoke coming from them and it is revelaed htat she is mearly kicking the air to allow her foot odor to spread to her Co-workers noses and knock them out.
* The [[https://www.shopgeox.com GEOX company]] has made quite a few commercials where someone (either a man or a woman) for varying reasons takes off one of their shoes and the smell of their feet causes everyone in the vicinity to automatically faint no matter how far away they actually are (if they are in doors). One of the funniest commercials involves a couple going out for a picnic with their dog and the woman decides to take off one of her sneakers causing the dog to faint next to her while the man quickly pinches his nose to block the smell only for a nearby tree (uprooted due to the odor of her feet) to fall on him.
* In a commercial for [[Advertising/EnergizerBunny Energizer batteries]], a lady advertises a fictional air freshener called Airdale, which she uses to eliminate the odors in her kitchen, on her pet dog, and on her husband's smelly feet. During the last part, the Energizer Bunny (who is dressed in a gas mask) [[CommercialSwitcheroo interrupts the commercial]], much to the bewilderment of the husband.
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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Manga/CrayonShinChan'', Shin's father Hiroshi is known to have very stinky feet and socks which can be used as a weapon against foes.
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Comicbook/TheFabulousFurryFreakBrothers'' take a road trip to Mexico - except for Phineas, who isn't allowed in because of his hair and beard. The other two come back, and the border patrol is convinced they're carrying in marijuana. After hours of searching with no results, a guard gets the idea to have Fat Freddy take off his shoes - he does, and the resultant stink has them rushed out and across. [[spoiler: Phineas, meanwhile, walked across and bought a big pile of dope cheap.]]
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[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* [[http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2/57/1600/ga900912.0.gif This]] ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} strip.
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'', Jeremy's sneakers have been known to make Odor Eaters throw up.
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[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* Gaston from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' appears to have smelly feet when he kicks off his boots on Belle's table.
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[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The 2003 film ''Film/{{Holes}}'' revolves greatly around stinky feet. Henry Winkler's character is trying to find a cure for foot odor, and as a result is obsessed with collecting and smelling shoes. He even asks his wife to smell one at one point. We are also told the whole hallways smells like stinky feet.
* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''. [[QuirkyMinibossSquad The weasels]] burst into Eddie Valiant's office to find Roger Rabbit, [[ChainedHeat currently handcuffed to Eddie]]. All they find is the private eye washing something in the sink.
-->'''Weasel:''' ''[sniffing]'' What's in there?\\
'''Eddie:''' ''[lifting out a sock]'' My lingerie.\\
''[Weasel turns away in disgust holding his nose, just missing Roger as he sticks his head up to breathe]''
* In the live-action ''Film/{{Cinderella|2015}}'', during the quest to find a maiden who can wear the glass slipper, the Royal Guards prepare to administer the test to an overweight baker-woman. She sits up on a counter, takes off her shoe, and four guards ''immediately'' collapse from the smell.
-->"It's the yeast."
* Elizabeth Jordan deals with this problem in the film ''Film/WarRoom''. At the end her husband J.T. treats her to a foot massage while wearing a mask over his face.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* The smell of socks/shoes is frequently used in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' books when someone's a slob, usually a [[MenCantKeepHouse male]] slob. ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals'' describes the University as "as masculine as the smell of pipe smoke and old socks, and, since wizards were frequently lax about knocking out their pipes, sometimes [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs smoking socks]] as well.
* ''Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr''. [=McCarthy=] takes off his boots and socks after three days of combat and immediately flees to another room. Unfortunately his feet insist on coming with him.
* ''Literature/DragonsOfRequiem'' has Dorvin, whose feet smell worse than "a dead marmot," according to Maev after she gets too close to them.
* ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'': Anastasia appears to have these, at least after some exercise.
-->''He bends and starts undoing one of my sneakers. Oh no... no... my feet. No. I've just been running.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* On ''Series/{{Full House}}'', one of the central running gags was that Kimmy Gibler had smelly feet. Every time she takes off her shoes, the other characters can't stand her (though they usually can't stand her as it already is). Apparently this runs in her family, as she mentions in one episode that DJ probably won't want to spend the night at her house since her father has just run out of foot deodorant.
* ''Series/HouseOfPayne'' has Malik, whose foot odor problem is brought up by multiple characters. Malik himself once mentioned to his friends that his feet smell.
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' arguably had some of the most creative stinky feet jokes in history. Al works in a shoe store and is regularly surrounded by smelly feet, plus has them himself. In one episode, Peg uses his stinky socks as a weapon to get out of a restaurant where then they can't pay the bill. Another time, when Al finds a "shoe groupie" in his bed, he takes off his shoe, to use his foot odor as a weapon. The groupie doesn't seem to mind it, but Peg yells from downstairs "Al, are your shoes off up there? For goodness sake, they're people breathing down here." Eventually, one episode revealed that the source of Al's severe foot odor was a curse placed on his ancestor five hundred years prior in England. The Bundy family then take a trip to England and the joke comes up several more times. At one point, Peg uses Al's shoe to knock a Royal Guard unconscious. And, in one of the most famous scenes of the show, Al dips his bare feet in a lake and ends up killing all the fish, plus knocking out an assassin in scuba-gear who was coming to kill him.
* ''Series/RoundTheTwist'' had this as a RunningGag, eventually culminating in an episode where Bronson reveals he's intending to use the pong as a weapon to stop Gribs, Rabbit and Tiger from killing a turtle.
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' actually spoofs this trope in the Miley Cyrus hosted episode. During a skit about a class to become a Disney Channel star (Miley is, of course, known for her lead role in ''Series/HannahMontana'' on the channel), one of the lessons in the class is "reacting to smelly feet" in which Keenan Thompson (playing Raven) takes a whiff of Bobby Moynihan socked feet and displaying displeasure (although it's probably not a genuine displeasure given what the skit is about).
** The skit itself is obviously poking fun at the Disney Channel live action shows that use this trope to a point that it sometimes becomes more of a tired cliche.
* ''Series/TheAmandaShow'' has Creator/DrakeBell confess in one sketch that his feet smell like a dead animal. When Josh Peck takes a whiff, he argues that they smell more like rotten sushi.
* A recurring riff on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' mentions feet that smell of either "bad meat or good cheese". The Bots also ragged on Joel for his feet, using the same line, and in the ''Film/MonsterAGoGo'' episode even attempted to make their own cheese, using Joel's shoes for "extra flavor". In ''Film/CodenameDiamondHead'', one of Mike's elf shoes is making a skunk-like stink in the Satellite.
* One episode of "Series/Woof!" has Eric's mum thinking he has very smelly feet one night (really, she's smelling the badger in his room), and demanding he washes them, which he obliges.
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[[folder:Music]]
* Jim Cosgrove, a singer/songwriter of children's tunes is known as "Mr. Stinky Feet" as his signature song is called "Stinky Feet." In the sing, he sings about foot odor and asks children to sing along.
* Music/FrankZappa furnishes the clinical name for this condition in "Stinkfoot" from Music/{{Apostrophe}}.
* Several of Submarine Man's songs are about smelling feet. Most notably "I Love the Stinky Feet" and "Stinko Foot".
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[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Jackal may have been {{the pigpen}} of Diabolic Khaos but it was [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] who got the idea to weaponize smelly feet...probably because Jackal was too used to his own grime to consider.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* In Ride/UniversalStudios' ''[[Theatre/UniversalsHorrorMakeUpShow Horror Make-Up Show]]'', when one of the hosts brings out a bunch of prosthetic body parts for the participant to "build her own boyfriend", he makes a special note of how disgusting the foot smells.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/MaximoGhostsToGlory'' has a purchasable powerup that gives the player character smelly feet, complete with visible stink. Its purpose is to make him able to cross certain cursed areas without losing his movement speed.
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[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Literature/{{Legatum}}'' is full of characters who aren't too fond of hygiene, and also have notable foot odor.
** At one point in ''Literature/SmirvlaksStone'', Nick wanders over to two giant rocks and comments about how much they stink. He finds out moments later that said "rocks" were actually [[{{Cyclops}} Mulvernt's]] massive feet.
** At the end of chapter 2 in ''Literature/TheGreenWanderer'', Marrox the orc takes off his boots before going to sleep. His orc companion immediately notices and comments about the strong smell.
** ''Literature/ScrambledEgg'' has a swamp troll named Trellorv who is noted for having nasty foot odor by other characters.
* ''Literature/{{TOT}}'' has Maximus Slade, the werewolf villain who cares little about hygiene. One chapter has him deliberately smothering a woman with his footpaw to live up to the "trick or treat, smell my feet" jingle trick-or-treaters would say, while another has him forcing a vandal to sniff his footpaws after someone dared him to do it.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* On the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode ''I Take Thee Quagmire'', Peter and his friends visit Quagmire and his fiancee. Quagmire asks that the company removes their shoes, as they are performing Japanese customs. Cleveland hesitates and leaves, claiming that he has foot odor.
** Strangely enough, this is the same episode out of the few that also proclaims that Quag has a foot fetish, as Peter tried to ward off Quag's newfound attitude by presenting him with the Statue of Liberty's foot ([[HowIsThatEvenPossible dismembered from the statue itself, mind you]]).
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', the penguins try to cure Mort of his obsession with hugging King Julien's feet. One of the tactics they use is prolonged exposure to one of zookeeper Alice's boots, which they handle with tongs while wearing gas masks.
* One of the gadgets [[MissionControl Wade]] created for [[WesternAnimation/KimPossible Kim Possible]] is a [[ShoePhone "lip gloss" container]] full of a "super-stink formula" distilled from his dad's dirty socks. It's powerful enough to [[KnockOutGas knock out]] a a squad of Drakken's henchmen and [[TheDragon Shego]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'' episode "Flustering Footwear Flotsam", Mike is shown removing her shoes and the signature green smoke is seen.
* In Polish ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' knock-off ''Wlatcy Moch'', the R.E. teacher apparently has this problem:
-->'''Anusiak:''' I just wanted to report that during the recess, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Czesio]] said you have smelly feet.\\
'''The catechist:''' Czesio!\\
'''Czesio:''' [[CatchPhrase HELLO!]]\\
'''The catechist:''' Add this to your list of sins: "I was lying about the catechist's feet"!\\
'''Czesio:''' But I wasn't lying...\\
'''The catechist:''' OUT!!!
* Hoodsey from ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger''. When he and Carl are having a staring contest at his home, Carl's eyes start to water and he blinks. When Hoodsey asks if it's because his feet smell, Carl actually leans down and sniffs his socks just to prove him wrong. Cue Ginger and her friends walking into the living room and complaining about how much Hoodsey's feet stink.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' ([[GrossoutShow of course]]): most notably after a long hike in their BootCampEpisode.
* In the "Sky Turtles" episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' when the eponymous heroes have to deal with both Shredder's gravity device, as well as Rocksteady being in the Turtle Van. After having defeated him, they take off Rocksteady's gravity-neutralizing boots, and then incapacitate him with one of his nasty-smelling socks!
--> '''Donatello:''' WHEW! This is hazardous work!!
* In the ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'' episode "Camping Caper", Yumi is shown to have them, which makes the surrounding forest animals pass out.
* Both Oggy and Dee Dee from ''WesternAnimation/OggyAndTheCockroaches'' have them. Oggy's stench can knock people out and Dee Dee's sock juices are potent enough to dissolve metal.
* ''Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper'': In "The Alphabet Song" performed by the Ghostly Trio.
-->'''Stinkie:''' And T is for Ten Smelly Toes! ''[upon which Fatso proceeds to tickle him]''
* ''WesternAnimation/BatPat'': Leo suffers from this in an episode.
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