I was shocked when I opened the newspaper the other morning. There was an article and photo of one of my client’s products. It nicely showcased the package design I created for it so I was initially excited. But why did they show it twice? As I read the headline, surprise turned to horror. The product had been counterfeited. The photo illustrated the differences between the authentic product and the fake.

How was it introduced? It seems that genuine product was purchased and the counterfeit was returned to retailers for refunds.  The knockoff was likely produced for a fraction of the cost of the original. The problem was that a great deal of the fake had been restocked and resold. A recall was issued immediately. Police are investigating.

One positive aspect of the tragedy is that the counterfeit product was old stock and has already been replaced on shelf with product clearly dated as newer than the fake. There is no further possibility of purchasing the counterfeit. But how will consumers react? Will they avoid purchasing the product? Will they seek it? After all, premium brands like Gucci and Rolex are the target of knockoffs. Good company!

It’s hard to determine the impact at this point. Most of the news articles portrayed the product as one of premium quality. Perfect positioning. Only a small percentage of consumers would have previously been aware of the product. It’s a needle in a haystack market.

Media coverage was extensive. I saw the story again on TV news. I tracked it on blogs and tweets. There are pages and pages of Google results. This post will not be included. I considered it but decided not to identify my client’s product here. Is any publicity good publicity as they say? How would you react?