Faking It

‘PSST! Wanna buy a genuine Giorgio Ferrari suit, hand-stitched by the Albanian fashion master himself?

The genuine article

Of course you do, but what you don’t want is to go home and find that placing anything heavier than a feather in the jacket pocket causes the suit to fall apart.

What you – and the millions like you who have invested in Anorak’s own brand Comfi-Slax range of leisure wear – want is quality at affordable prices.

But, as the Independent says in its lead story, many of us are still substituting build for label, so supporting the £10bn trade in counterfeit goods.

But no more, because the Government are embarking on a campaign to force the fakers out of business.

In the language of the courts, selling fake goods is known as ‘intellectual property theft’, and it just won’t do.

So the Government are building a crack team of police, Customs officials and trading standards officers to stop this dastardly crime.

And if you with the fly pitch selling such goods aren’t worried by that, you will surely tremble in your boots when you learn how the entire operation is to be coordinated by…the Patent Office.

We have no beef with the Patent Office, but when you need help, when your brand is being diluted by street hustlers, do you really call the men with rubber stamps?

Better simply to remind those customers on whom the industry relies that when buying shirts, jewellery and DVDs from the man with the suitcase in the gents’ lav to keep your money in your pocket and walk away.

You do not want to be supporting an illegal industry – even if it does often supply you with goods indistinguishable from the original item at a fraction of the price…’

Posted: 23rd, August 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink