I will never forget that headline “Counterfeit Fashion supports Terrorism” – I’ve spent time in New York, Florence and many other Cities and have seen at first-hand the appalling “designer” copies of mostly handbags but I didn’t appreciate all those years ago just where the proceeds were going – well now we know differently.
But the real crux of my tale is not to do with the production of fake goods but the many 1000’s of people getting sucked in by the fake Social Media profiles of celebrities, fashion houses and politicians – as of today the latest has been Ralph Lauren to Twitter under the “Nom de Plume” @ralphlaurenUSA – another fake, spinning a yarn with potentially very damaging consequences to the brand. Kurt Soller writes for Esquire magazine (and used to work for Ralph Lauren) he had this to say: “Earlier this morning, many fans on the platform were abuzz that Ralph Lauren had finally joined Twitter. Using the handle @ralphlaurenusa, the brand supposedly wrote things, mostly responding to people who tweeted, enthusiastically, “OMG, OMG, OMG!!! Ralph Lauren is on Twitter!! Welcome! So happy for you!” The problem: Ralph Lauren (the man) didn’t say these things on Twitter. Neither did Ralph Lauren (the company). The feed is a fake, a source at RL told me, and it’s one of many that the company spends it’s time policing.”
As of now, Ralph Lauren isn’t on Twitter. It’s younger sibling, RugbyRL, is on the network, though. Some marketing projects — like the Big Pony fragrance line — have also started feeds, which makes this confusing to the common shopper. And there seems to be only one way to fix it: The company has to join Twitter — so people stop faking it for them… Don’t you think?