After reading an article posted by Reuters, I was introduced to a new term called "sham glam". This term has been introduced by Chinese consumers who say that they are over the brand name/luxury market. They are proud embracers of "sham glam". "Sham glam" is used to describe a consumer who uses fake products for their own kitchsy appeal. Another term to watch for is "shanzai".
Well I guess if you don't mind "sham glam", then you would not mind drinking soda from these bottles which are eerily familiar to Fanta, Coca Cola and Sprite which are all part of the Coca Cola Inc umbrella. Would you drink a bottle of Smile? Sham glam devotees would say yes!
Well I guess if you don't mind "sham glam", then you would not mind drinking soda from these bottles which are eerily familiar to Fanta, Coca Cola and Sprite which are all part of the Coca Cola Inc umbrella. Would you drink a bottle of Smile? Sham glam devotees would say yes!
Chinese consumers are saying that as the recession affects more and more of them, they are unable to afford the price points of popular brand name products. While many of the sham glam devotees are aware of the original products that may have inspired their sham glam brands, this is not a case of branding confusion: "It's an imitation, so it's not a fake and it's not infringing copyright. Maybe it lacks innovation but it's not really bad," said Beijing student Cui Lai.
How do foreign companies feel about their intellectual property rights possibly being violated by sham glam copiers? "The United States and European Union have expressed their displeasure with Beijing numerous times over the problem, and it has proven a major irritant in trade and political ties.China says it is trying hard to tackle piracy, but that as it is a developing country it may take many years to root out the problem.
Yet the growing popularity of "shanzhai" products in China could prove an extra headache for the original and mostly foreign brands already struggling to enforce their intellectual property in the world's third-largest economy.
"It is possible that these lookalikes, these sort of brand upstarts, can actually become quite famous locally and then the case would be considerably more difficult," said Scott Palmer of Baker & McKenzie, who specializes in anti-piracy law in China."
You can read the whole Reuters article about sham glam here: http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5151FW20090206?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
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