The Devil may be Prada.

[taichiliberal]

Last night I watched an ABC Nightline story about how cops are stepping up the arrests and confiscation of fake merchandise...specifically fake name brand shoes, handbags and dresses (Louis Vitton, Prada, etc). Fascinating, as the people who are buyhing these "knock-offs" can NOT afford to go into the pricey Fifth Avenue stores and buy the real thing ($500 dollars for a handbag? I don't think so). So the "up-scale" brands and their stores are not actually losing money. Bottom line: there just are not enough people to buy all that stuff in Tiffany's! Yet another indication of the bogus nature of our consumer driven economy, and how it must be restructured.

 

[California Girl]

It's illegal.... globally.

 

[taichiliberal]

It's illegal.... globally.

Yeah, I know the whole fraud thing of misrepresenting the name....but my point is that you have these stories saying how the knockoff market or fraud is bankrupting the ritzy folk's business.....and I find that highly unlikely given that the people buying the knockoffs COULD NEVER AFFORD THE ORIGINAL IN THE FIRST PLACE.

It's just simple deductive reasoning.....unless fake Prada is showing up in Tiffany's, the whole time, effort and cost to crack down on this really just keeps small business in check while propping up the false ultra success of the playthings for the rich.

I'm not saying we should encourage fraud, but let's not exaggerate or overlook what's going on here.