Have you ever wanted an iPhone case that looks like a pair of Crocs? You know the ugly but comfy slip-on shoes covered in holes that you can optionally decorate with colorful thumbtacks? You do not have? Well, apparently a designer at smartphone case maker Casetify saw a pair of Crocs and thought, wow, this would make a great iPhone case!!

No, we are not kidding.

Casetify launched a new series of iPhone cases this month that look exactly like Crocs shoes, with their trypophobia-inducing holes and thumbtack decoration sets that let you customize your phone case with things like flowers, rainbows, smiley faces and…uh…A stick of butter. A piece of toasted bread. A snail. A motel key fob??

I’m sorry, but what’s going on here?

These cases sell for $52!

Although TechCrunch doesn’t typically cover smartphone cases or accessories, when we saw this new product line, we knew we had to make an exception due to its truly bizarre nature. Is this press release a joke? Is it a first April Fool? Vaporware? Did we travel to the 1980s to find new product ideas?

We regret / are happy to inform you that these cases are real. We have them in hand and put them to the test.

Here is what we can report. The cases themselves are available in black, lavender, cream and pink. They are soft and flexible with their silicone finishes, as described. They also have bumpers on the corners and the promised raised bezel to help protect the screen. Casetify says they offer up to 4 feet of drop protection.

But of course, no one buys these cases for their protective capabilities. They buy them for the “aesthetics” if they buy them.

Available only for iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, the cases have 13 to 14 holes designed to hold thumbtacks. These are sold in sets of 5 pins that sell for $22 – that’s no cheap joke to partake in!

At launch, four main sets are available: a “cottage core” set with a mushroom, snail, strawberry, flower, and duck; a “retro west” set with a cowboy hat with dalmatian polka dots, a matchbox, a cowboy boot, a motel keychain and a 70s happy face flower (no, I don’t also don’t know how the flower is Western); a “dinner breakfast” with the aforementioned butter and toast, a smiling face, a checkered heart, and the text “thank you!” as you will find on your restaurant voucher; and the “peace loving land” set with a teddy bear, a heart-shaped world, a happy-faced daisy; yin yang symbol; and happy rainbow.

There’s also a limited-edition “Barbie” set with pink pushpins like Barbie’s face, brand, jacket, heart-shaped glasses and “1959” year.

This one sells for $82! Eighty… two… dollars.

I don’t even know… why…

We asked Casetify how he came up with this “unique” idea.

The company told us that it had designed many innovative products over the past few years, such as its mirror cases, pillowcases, and bounce cases, and it believed these new pushpin cases would simply offer its customers “new ways to express themselves with their everyday technology.”

“The first sets of pins we produced were developed with our best-selling prints in mind, and also taking into account trending products among Gen Z and Millennials,” a spokesperson said.

When we asked them what the problem was with the butter, they noted, “It might be shocking to know that food-related items are selling so well haha!”

Ok, but butter? Really? Is it because of that viral butter shoal? Are phone cases now tied to TikTok’s niche trends?

Plus, there’s the basic cottage ensemble that’s also seemingly inspired by the internet trend that romanticizes country living and living in harmony with nature — an aesthetic that’s gained popularity thanks to sub-communities of TikTok driven by its custom algorithms. Now it has jumped from the screen into your pocket.

Anyway, despite the presence of giant pins on the back of the case, it wasn’t too difficult to put the decorated case in your pocket or take it out. The holsters and pins are pretty smooth, so even if they tug on your clothes a bit, they end up not really catching any more than, say, your Popsockets grip, for example.

Meanwhile, decorating the case with pins wasn’t too difficult either. Pushing the pins took a bit of effort, especially on the bottom row for some reason, but once inside they felt pretty safe.

Pins can be mixed and matched depending on your mood, Casetify says, but early selections were quite limited. Of course, we had to try jamming Crocs Jibbitz (aka Crocs pins) into the holes in the case just to see. After all, if the cases supported Jibbitz, it would have opened up a wide range of customization options! But unfortunately, the rounded-back Jibbitz we had on hand — those glittery Hello Kitty charms — were just too big. Damage.

Casetify says it plans to release more pin sets and cases in the future, including through upcoming brand collaborations, like the one it did a few months ago with Barbie, which precipitated the line of Push-In cases. We don’t know which aesthetic community will be next to get the thumbtack treatment, but there are plenty of “-cores” to choose from.