"From the catwalks of London to the rubbish heaps of Kampala the impact of fast fashion is wide and deep"
-Jack Garland
Due to the impact of globalisation and the desire for designer brands at high street prices, fashion knock offs and counterfeits are becoming increasingly popular around the world. In fact, in 2011 designer knock offs contributed to 7% of world trade and is a $600 billion industry (Felice, 2011). The fashion industry loses up to 9.2 billion dollars a year due to designer counterfeiting (Felice 2011) not to mention the amount of jobs lost due to this piracy, yet the American government has still not allowed for there to be laws against copying garments. District Court Judge Jack Weinstein stated "Congress and the Supreme Court have answered in favour of Commerce and the masses rather than the artist, designers and the well to do". Due to the concern of the population and lack of protection for designers the effect is that piracy will continue to prevail in all industries and the allure of designer brands will be eroded
An example of designer counterfeit in Australia would be the fake MAC cosmetics that were sold in Target last year. Estee Lauder, the company who owns MAC, exposed that the products that were sold in Target were indeed fake forcing the company to strip the products off their shelves. The US supplier who sold the poor quality products to Target conveniently vanished leaving Estee Lauder to take Target to court over the misuse of the MAC trademark. According to Martin et. al "perpetrators typically try to hide any of their actions likely to be perceived as unjust"(2010) as a cover up tactic. Despite Estee Lauder exposing the counterfeit products Target was adamant that the products were actually real, attempting to cover up their poor judgement and trying not to damage the brand any further. Targets tactic to cover up the authenticity of the MAC products was reckless in the context of risking customer safety because they continued to promote products that had not been fully tested and the argument that they didn't know the products were fake is not valid because ignorance is no defence.
Although there is some legislation to protect originality there are still loop holes in the system where counterfeits get through. Due to the pace of globalisation and consumerism the law is struggling to keep up and tactics that corporations use to protect their integrity are not always effective.
References:
Martin, B, Moore, C and Salter, C. 2010, ‘Sharing music files: tactics of a challenge to the industry’, First Monday, vol. 15, no. 12, [available:http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2986/2680].
Felice, K, 2011. FASHIONING A SOLUTION FOR DESIGN PIRACY: CONSIDERING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF FAST FASHION.. Syracuse Journal of International Law & Commerce., Vol. 39 , p219-247.
Target left blushing over MAC make-up case. 2013. Available at:http://www.smh.com.au/business/target-left-blushing-over-mac-makeup-case-20130618-2ofdf.html.
Target left wearing fake cosmetics as US supplier vanishes. 2013. Available at: http://www.theage.com.au/business/target-left-wearing-fake-cosmetics-as-us-supplier-vanishes-20130505-2j1ao.html.
 |
| Ricky Martin and Nicki Minaj for MAC Source: http://www.justjared.com/2011/11/18/nicki-minaj-ricky-martin-macs-viva-glam-campaign/ |
 |
| The MAC Products on display at Target Source: http://www.theplasticdiaries.com/beauty/mac-cosmetics-sold-in-target-australia-official-legal-statements-and-my-opinion |
I liked how you took on a different perspective of the topic this week! I thought it was interesting how you related globalisation to the cosmetic industry particularly the case study involving MAC cosmetics. Firstly, I liked your introduction to the topic by including a quote and then the background information of how the cosmetic industry is becoming a grey area in terms of regulation as there are loopholes in the industry. This post is very relatable to me, as I myself purchased MAC from Target and thought that it was wrong of Target to cover up the counterfeit products from consumers and still defend themselves, continuing to market them as 'genuine' products. Great use of pictures and scholarly sources. Look forward to reading more posts from you in the following weeks.
ReplyDeleteHi Emma,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Just like the first comment, I also like how you used a different angle to tackle the topic. I find this topic very interesting and I didn't know about the target and MAC scandal but it's interesting how most retailers try to make up counterfeit products and sell them cheaply which i find very unfair to the original manufactures of the product all in an attempt of wanting to make a profit . While reading your blog, Aldi came to mind. I find that the grocery store has a number of items in its own 'weird' brand, I wonder if it would be regarded as plagiarism to have the same product but have a different brand name for it.
Other than that, I liked the use of a quote in your introduction, it made the blog post more interesting and engaging for me. Keep it up!
Hi Emma,
ReplyDeleteFound your post really interesting, as I was unaware of the issue with MAC and Target last year. Having seen a number of fake MAC and other various makeup products first hand when travelling through Asia last year I certainly agree that there should be something done about this. This was a well written argument.
Thanks
Hi Emma, your argument really depicted the ongoing battle between the counterfeit economy and the industries desperately trying to liquidate those ripping off their commodities. I can really see that you put a lot of effort in trying to clarify the importance of implementing effective legislation, however that will never happen. The demand of cheap goods are in 'high demand'. Not everyone can afford the luxury goods supplied in high end retail stores. If demand is high, therefore supply is constant. it is unfortunately a never ending cycle of the counterfeit economy.
ReplyDeletenonetheless, you provided a strong argument and a delightful read.
keep it up!
Hi Emma!
ReplyDeleteI really related to your blog this week. I too wrote about the impact of globalisation on counterfeit goods, but I like that you chose to focus on cosmetics rather than fashion.
You managed to engage me with your piece right from the start with your quote from Jack Garland, and your use of statistics gave your argument substance. I liked how you structured your piece with very readable paragraphs and as I personally purchase MAC products I found your example to be really effective.
As with my writing's in my blog, I too believe that because of the lack of protection for designers, piracy will continue to prevail in all industries and the allure of designer brands will eventually be eroded.
The only part of your post that may need consideration is perhaps your use of imagery at the end? You might want to involve it more in the post to make it more interesting.
I look forward to next weeks blog!
new
ReplyDeletehttp://cvhasanahtex.com