On the 26th, during a Facebook Live broadcast, a seller attached a note labeled "jap," indicating a counterfeit, on one side of the chest and was selling a short-sleeved T-shirt from the sports brand Dynafit. (Photo by Facebook capture)
[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The fashion industry is struggling with "jjakttung" (counterfeit goods). Not only counterfeit luxury goods but also counterfeit products of mid-range brands are being cleverly distributed through live broadcasts on social networking services (SNS) recently.
On the 26th, during a live broadcast on Facebook, a seller was shaking a National Geographic short-sleeve T-shirt in real time. A note labeled "jjak," meaning counterfeit, was attached to one side of the seller's chest. The seller said, "I put the note on my chest so that sisters don’t get confused, so please check carefully before purchasing," adding, "The logo is exactly the same as the genuine product, and the price is 15,000 won, so please leave a comment quickly before the stock runs out."
The products sold during the broadcast were relatively inexpensive brands such as National Geographic, Fila, Discovery, and Dynafit. The retail price of these products was around 50,000 won, and the counterfeit products were 20,000 to 30,000 won cheaper than the genuine ones. About 100 viewers connected to the broadcast over the course of an hour, communicating in real time through comments and purchasing products. During the same time, 2 to 3 other live broadcasts selling counterfeit clothing were also discovered.
Unlike in the past when counterfeit products were sold on open markets like Coupang or distributed through online shopping malls, counterfeit products are now being distributed more cleverly in the form of "tteotdabang" (pop-up shops) through live broadcasts, prompting the fashion industry to devise countermeasures.
F&F, which operates brands such as MLB and Discovery, and National Geographic have started embedding radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips in all their products for distribution. RFID chips have so far only been used by famous luxury brands like Chanel. This is a method to easily and clearly verify the authenticity of products. As counterfeit distribution has increased recently, National Geographic and F&F have also begun taking such measures. If the authenticity of a product is in doubt, customers can visit stores to check for the presence of the chip.
Fila has inserted QR codes on the back of the trademark tags of all its products. This is also a measure to verify authenticity. Primarily, if there is no QR code on the back of the trademark tag, the product should be suspected as counterfeit. If a QR code is present but the product is still suspected to be counterfeit, customers can visit stores to scan and verify the QR code.
Additionally, each company has established internal monitoring organizations or contracted with external agencies to inspect counterfeit distribution, but eradicating counterfeit distribution remains difficult. It is hard to secure evidence when sales suddenly appear and disappear, such as in live broadcasts, and it is impossible to monitor hundreds to thousands of broadcasts daily. Also, counterfeit goods may be secondarily distributed through used transactions, but this is also impossible to regulate.
A fashion industry official explained, "Primarily, preventing counterfeit distribution itself is most important, but since it is realistically difficult, we have taken measures to ensure consumers are not deceived into buying counterfeit products as genuine," adding, "We will continuously strengthen measures to eradicate counterfeit goods."
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