Beware of counterfeit products

Remember the quality of perfumes in the 80’s and 90’s, and how just a few short bursts could make you smell fresh all day? Today, it is different. You literally exhaust a quarter of the content and in just a few minutes to hours, you are wondering if you actually used any perfume at all.

Today, hundreds of online stores and physical shops around us are overflowing with luxury counterfeit products that are in categories, including foods, pastries, soap, cosmetics, toothpastes, phones, clothing, jewelry, perfume, handbags, computers, etc. In fact, illegal counterfeit industry hass grown tremendously in the past two decades and one major factor that has been contributing to it is consumer demand.

The great risk of consuming these items is in the fact that they have not passed through any form of inspection or quality control. In addition, trying to cut down on product cost in a bid to achieve a good price completion makes manufacturers to use substandard materials during the illegal production processes.

I recall vividly an incident that happened in my office a few weeks ago. A lady had made a phone appointment with the intention of introducing a premium brand of dog food which she imported from Germany.

She visited my office in a bus that was branded with the information about the dog food and we soon began to discuss about the quality of the brand. We also negotiated the quantity and price. Suddenly, a man walked in and said he saw the branded bus outside and he decided to inquire if the puppy bag of the dog food was available.

The woman immediately responded by telling him that the company had not imported the puppy bags in the last three months because it was being rebranded due to the NAFDAC number that had just been processed. As she spoke, the guy stared at her in amazement. He said he had just spoken with someone in one of the eastern states about five minutes before and that the guy said he had over 100 bags he had just imported.

The lady then informed him that she had the sole right to import the goods into Nigeria, and that the right was given to her after about five visits to the parent company in Germany. The company had said that they were avoiding the Nigerian market because they did not want their product to be imitated.

To cut the long story short, this individual in the east was investigated and found to be in possession of large quantity of counterfeit bags of the dog food.

Like earlier reiterated, beyond dog food, thousands of products are being counterfeited now, and these counterfeited products do a lot of harm to the valuable goodwill of product brands of the companies that have expended years and enormous resources in carefully developing brand recognition. These products are being unlawfully imitated and sold at inferior quality through unauthorised channels, and usually at drastically reduced prices.

To this end, it is highly imperative that NAFDAC, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, and all other relevant agencies vigorously investigate those who manufacture or sell counterfeit products and take the appropriate action against them, in a bid to protect the brand value and save the lives of millions of Nigerians.

The chase was very hot when these kingpins specialised in the production of fake drugs. Now, they have evolved and diversified into counterfeiting thousands of other products.

In these times, the best defense is to be vigilant and to learn how to spot fake products yourself. A few ways to avoid being taken advantage of is by:

Purchasing luxury goods through reputable shops that you know are being supplied directly by the manufacturers. In addition, check the manufacturer’s website for more information on identifying an original. Many large companies now have information on their websites to alert customers to possible counterfeit products and to help them detect fakes.
Train your eyes. Looks can be deceptive and it may be very difficult to tell a counterfeit from an original because these syndicates have perfected their acts. However, the majority of the counterfeit products show a very coarse level of finishing – a level of quality that reputable companies would never sell to its customers. According to some experts, some tip-offs include poor stitching, crooked labels, or misspelled brand names.
Avoid very low prices. Not all fakes sell at lower prices than their genuine counterparts, but an unreal bargain is one of the surest signs of an unreal product. If a price seems too good to be true, then your guess is as good as mine.
Be familiar with the taste of your toothpaste, noodles, pasta, biscuits, etc.; and the fragrances of your perfumes, disinfectants, soaps, etc., and be quick to detect it once this changes. If something does not seem right, especially in a product that you ingest or apply to your body, please do not use it. Remember, it is better to err on the side of caution.

Have a splendid weekend.

PUNCH.