On counterfeiting? Let’s scream our voices hoarse then! There can never be enough said on the crusade to end counterfeiting no matter how tiny the fake product or even service may be.
Have you bought some fake product lately? In fact, the cosmetic industry needs some clean up in this regard. Fake body lotions and soaps everywhere!
In the past, people used to tone just as they desired. This time around, toning up your skin a bit would launch you into bleaching proper because of the fakery wind that has continued to blow the cosmetics sector no good. What about the reputational damage for the genuine brands? Our heart goes out to them. In reality, brands whose products are counterfeited may suffer reputational damage because the counterfeit goods bear their name and logo. This can also hurt their sales.
Away from the cream/soap example, counterfeiting can be found in virtually every sector of the Nigerian economy. It has become a scourge harming consumers in a myriad ways. Have you even thought that counterfeiters can also potentially lead to other issues such as harm to the environment by not following the rules and regulations in the production process? Additionally, it could also harm the nation’s economy because they don’t pay taxes and even evade other duties.
To stick to the knitting of this post, SON recently urged business owners to secure their products from counterfeiters.
In fact, the standards regulator admonished all business owners in the country to make their products impossible to be counterfeited by criminal elements.
SON Director-General, Mallam Farouk Salim, stated this during the organisation’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, organised for staff members in Port Harcourt.
He urged business owners to take actionable steps to ensure that their brands and products were not compromised and sold to innocent consumers – because of the unfavourable repercussions, of course.
Salim said that the global index for substandard and falsified industry products stood at $4.3 trillion in 2021.
“This overwhelming figure justifies the need for a robust collaboration between SON and the industrial sector to fight the scourge in the country.”
He said: “The industry must make substantial investments in brand protection activities to safeguard their intellectual property and associated brands.”
“They must do this to protect their brands against counterfeiters, copyright pirates and producers of substandard products,” he said.
At Consumertrics, we ask: “Should it really be just SON screaming about this pandemic called, counterfeiting?” Not really. Everyone should hop on the wagon. You know why? Because Nigerians and indeed, the consumers remain the ones to bear the brunt!
