counterfeit

Busted: An underground fake condom factory

Team Observers — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:27:38 +0200

Post written with the help of ChinaHush.

Dusty condoms lie on the floor, old oil cans are used to store lubricant, shirtless workers handle fake brand wrappers…Welcome to an illegal condom factory in Shaoyang, China.

Condoms were stored carelessly in dirty plastic bags in the 20m2 chinese workshop. Fake brand wrappers were produced daily on the production line. Eight illegal immigrants ran the factory from 8am to 6pm.

Local authorities arrested four suspects and seized 40,000 boxes of condoms, counterfeits of 6 different brands: Jissbon, Durex, Sixsex, Love Card, NOX, et Rough Nider, as well as 1,620,000 unpackaged condoms. The entire stock is worth 536,000 yuans (53,000 euros), making it the largest stock of counterfeit medical equipment in the Hunan province.

According to one of the suspects arrested, the underground factory has already sold more than 40,000 boxes, or 480,000 condoms in the Hunan and neighbouring provinces of Guangdong and Hubei.

In 2005, counterfeit condoms were discovered on the on the English market. Durex then appealed to users to beware of "low quality products" with "very convincing packaging."

Obama endorsing Chinese apartments?

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:44:43 +0200

The faces of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Barack Obama have appeared in advertisements for upmarket apartments in the central Chinese city of Xi'an.

Posted on the Swotbbs forum.

According to the Danwei website, the astonishing campaign was picked up by Chinese daily The Oriental Guardian. The billboards, measuring ten metres by six metres, boast the merits of the swish apartments under construction behind them. Each uses the portrait of a celebrity along with a statement of endorsement. A picture of American billionaire investor Warren Buffett for example, is accompanied by the quote "This is the most important investment of my life".

A reporter from the Oriental Guardian contacted the Shaanxi province Bureau of Industry and Commerce in questioning whether it was legal to suggest endorsement from an unknowing statesman. Although the advertising specialist there was unsure, the query nonetheless brought the campaign to the attention of the local government. On July 14 the local authorities demanded that the campaign be removed.

As noted by Danwei, it's not the first time that Obama's image has been used illegally by Chinese advertisers. The US president also appeared on a poster for the "Blockberry" (a fake Blackberry).

Fake iPhones: rip-off or innovation?

Team Observers — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:15:43 +0200

Photo: Julen on Flickr.

Counterfeit iPhones have become so sophisticated that from looks alone you can barely tell them apart from their genuine counterparts. You might be disappointed to unwrap one after an eBay purchase. Or not — as a counterfeit mobile specialist tells us, the rip-offs have many accessories that Apple itself hasn’t got round to adding to the real thing, and the fakes cost around three times less.

Back in 2007, fake iPhones hit the shelves even before the iPhone itself did. At the time, the toy-like gadgets were seen to be pretty amusing and certainly no competition to the real thing. Two years on, however, with the genuine product still not available on the Chinese market, it’s the counterfeiters who are laughing now.

Products like the HiPhone have become so widespread that an American eBay user found himself unwrapping one of the fakes. He sent the phone to the Apple-authorised repair shop MacMedics, who then diagnosed the product and posted the following examination on their YouTube channel.