If you can make it, they can fake it

The violation of intellectual property rights and the illegal copying of all kinds of goods from cigarettes to medicines really took off in the 1990s and has become an issue of major concern to companies and governments around the world.

Counterfeiting is worrying multinationals as it now makes up between 5 and 7% of all global merchandise trade. The World Health Organization says that about 10% of the world’s medicines are counterfeit. Here are some examples of the kinds of fake goods that have been found in the marketplace. A woman in New York recently phoned her local drugstore to complain about the bitter taste from the cholesterol-lowering Lipitor pills that she was taking. On examination in a lab, the pills turned out to be counterfeits. Over the next two months, 16.5 million pills were withdrawn from warehouse and pharmacy shelves.

In a Chinese warehouse, authorities came across a store of counterfeit Buick windshields ready for the export market. China also sells Honda fake parts for half the price of the original. China is by far the greatest violator of property rights and two-thirds of the world’s fake goods are turned out there.

Secret service agents in Guam discovered bogus North Korean-made pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, and counterfeit $100 bills.

French Customs recently picked up more than 11,000 fake parts for Nokia cell phones, batteries, and phone covers.

And the list goes on and on. Multinational companies are putting pressure on the governments of violating countries to make them control the counterfeiters. Goods are being electronically tagged and companies are sending detectives around the world to track down companies and countries involved in the production of fake goods.

b) Match the countries with the pirated goods

1. USA a. car windshields

2. Brazil b. pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, $100 bills

3. China c. parts for cell phones

4. Guam d. pills for controlling cholesterol

5. France e. printer cartridges

c) Answer these questions

1. Which country represents the biggest problem in terms of violations of property rights? 2. What are multinational companies doing to cope with the problem of illegal counterfeiting? 3. How would you describe the situation with counterfeiting in your country? What can be done about it?

Words to remember:

be concerned with – мати відношення до

commercial – реклама на телебаченні або радіо

convince smb of – переконувати, запевняти

convincing – переконливий

determine – визначати

display – показ, демонстрація

draw attention to – привертати увагу до

emerge – виникати, з’являтися

encourage – заохочувати

endorse a product – рекомендувати товар, виступати в підтримку товару; endorsement – підтримка, схвалення товару відомою людиною

eye-catching – привабливий, той, що привертає увагу;

exist – існувати, existence – наявність, існування

expensive – дорогий

feature – риса, характеристика

free samples – безкоштовні зразки

generate sales – породжувати збут

harm reputation – шкодити репутації

improve – покращувати

influence – вплив; впливати; syn impact;

influential – впливовий, важливий

income – дохід, прибуток

institutional (prestige) ad – корпоративна (іміджева) реклама, реклама фірми (а не її товарів)

leaflet – рекламна листівка

mass media – засоби масової інформації

medium – засіб

misleading – який вводить в оману, обманний

outdoor advertising – вулична реклама, реклама на відкритому повітрі

persuade – переконувати, схиляти

persuasive – переконливий

point-of-purchase – місце продажу, місце покупки

price reduction – зменшення ціни

private label – марка торговельного підприємства

product placement – розміщення скритої реклами

prohibit – забороняти

publicity – публічність; популярність, слава

purchase – купувати; syn buy

recognizable logo – логотип фірми, який легко розпізнати

slogan – лозунг, девіз

stimulate sales – стимулювати продаж

street furniture – вуличне обладнання

target customer – цільовий споживач

trade fair – ярмарок

unique selling point (USP) – унікальна властивість продукції, унікальна торгова пропозиція

use promotional tools – використовувати засоби стимулювання збуту

via – через, за допомогою

word-of-mouth – усний

Exercise 10 Replace the italicized words with the synonyms from the active vocabulary.

Stimulate sales of a new product, to convince customers to buy, to define the marketing strategy, to attract attention to the unique selling points of the goods, to ban using children in advertisements on TV, attention-grabbing commercial, oral communication, to employ different promotional tools, to use important mass media for promotion, to deal with the public relations, to generate business profit for the company, new forms of advertising which appeared recently.

Exercise 11 a) What kind of sales promotions are you receptive to?

• coupons giving a price reduction?

• free samples?

• discounts for buying a large quantity?

• price reductions in shops?

• packets offering ‘20% Extra’?

b) What makes a good advertisement? Use some of the words below.

clever	interesting	funny	persuasive	eye-catching
powerful	humorous	shocking	informative	sexy

c) Do you think that the advertising practices described below are acceptable?

a. Using children in advertisements

b. Using nudity in advertisements

c. Promoting alcohol on TV

d. Comparing your products to your competitors’ products

e. An image flashed onto a screen very quickly so that people are affected without noticing it (subliminal advertising)

Exercise 12 a) Read three opinions about advertising.

(1) First of all, an advert has to be attention-grabbing and powerful. You need a strong image that is eye-catching, a catchy slogan, a joke or something shocking. In advertising we talk about the AIDA formula. A is for attention. I is for interest. D is for desire. A is for action. An ad needs to do more than get our attention. It also has to be effective and persuasive. It must get us interested, make us want the product and motivate us to go out and buy it.

Michael Hamilton, advertising executive

(2) Advertising has changed over the years. Adverts are no longer purely informative and focused on the product. Many of the adverts that we see today are short stories telling inspirational tales that are often witty, humorous and sophisticated. People do not want to remember that life can be dull. They want to see something original and creative. The adverts take away the ordinariness of everyday life and take us to somewhere exotic or romantic.

Miranda Hoyles, head of US advertising agency

(3) Many people talk about advertisements that are exciting and intriguing. But for me, an instantly recognizable logo is really important. Good logos have been built up so they are recognizable. Part of what makes a good advert is a clear symbol that people immediately identify with the company. A good slogan also helps you make a connection. ‘The real thing’ makes you think of Coca-Cola immediately. It’s also important that your slogan does not become irritating.

Christie Peterson, illustrator

b) Are these statements true or false?

1. Michael Hamilton says that adverts must attract attention and be persuasive. 2. He also states that an advert should encourage us to buy the product it is advertising. 3. Miranda Hoyles states that adverts nowadays are different from years ago. 4. Hoyles also says people like adverts that reflect everyday life. 5. Christie Peterson focuses on slogans and logos. 6. She says that excitement is more important than the image of the company.

c) Find adjectives in the first two texts which mean the following.

1. attracting your attention because it is easily remembered; 2. very noticeable; 3. amusing and enjoyable, easy to remember; 4. very bad, upsetting; 5. works well and produces the results you want; 6. able to make people do or believe something; 7. funny and clever; 8. not interesting or exciting; 9. imaginative, using completely new and different ideas; 10. unusual and exciting because it comes from a distant country.

Exercise 13 Read and translate the text.