What's in My Bag

The Danish Patent and Trademark Office

Influencers help highlight

organized crime

What's in my bag

The Problem

Young people don’t mind fakes

The sale of counterfeit goods is higher in Denmark than the EU average. Influencers and social media help drive an unrealistic demand for luxury goods and to keep up, youth turn to fakes. That’s a sad truth for those who put their time and effort into creating original designs. The Danish Patent and Trademark Office fights counterfeiting and piracy, and felt the need to raise the issue.

Insight: Fake is just the tip of the iceberg.

According to a report from Europol, there are close links between fake goods and organized crime like criminal weapon possession, drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, and tax evasion. Alarming truths that only a few 18- to 24-year-olds consider when choosing a fake product.

What's in my back

The Solution

This is what you also buy into

To reach a target group notoriously difficult to reach, The Danish Patent and Trademark Office turned to the very influencers who help escalate the problem. Instead of showing off the usual luxury goods – we asked them to strike a different pose: You don’t actually know what you’re funding when you buy fake.

Rollout

We collaborated with eight different influencers to generate awareness around this painful insight. Each of them posing on their Instagram account with an item representing various organized crimes. Two influencers made a YouTube video addressing the issue of buying fake goods.