Beware of the Kunming’s Rotten Apple

Most manufacturers of expensive branded goods are aware of and manage the risks of having their brands imitated by counterfeiters. But has a firm ever found a fake store being opened by these unscrupulous people?

In China, Apple has experienced just that. A blogger holidaying in China saw the store and smelt a rat when she noticed a few differences from Apple’s usual approach to it’s store design.

This would be a great example to use to introduce the concept of protecting intellectual property. Perhaps start the lesson just by showing the photo and asking the students what they notice, would they shop there, is there anything in the picture that concerns them? It’s also a great illustration of how branded stores aim to get a consistent look and feel across the world and how counterfeiters have attempted to exploit that. And it also shows the growing demand for high-end consumer goods as China’s growth continues.

You can read the news story here