Stop 'faking', says Askmebazaar

The online marketplace is campaigning against fake products in its latest communication.

Online marketplace Askmebazaar has launched a communication campaign called 'Get Real' which talks about how nightmarish fake products and copies can be with their false promise of being original. The campaign, conceptualised by JWT, comprises five short films on YouTube.

The campaign takes the failed humour route to communicate the idea. The ads end with a message 'Fakes as bad as this joke'. A chunk of the Indian market is owned by fakes or unauthentic products. The company claims that it is trying to create awareness to further halt fraudulent business practices. The campaign is an attempt to emphasise on customer awareness and aims to educate the stakeholders in this ecosystem about the negative effects of selling or promoting fake products.

Manav Sethi, group CMO & head, digital strategy, Askmebazaar, says, "The Indian luxury counterfeit market is approximately worth Rs. 2,500 crore, accounting to 5-6 per cent of the total luxury market of the country. With this campaign, we aim to send a robust message to our customers that Askmebazaar is committed to upholding the standards and reliability of products, and our high-quality, customer-focussed reputation."

Sundeep Sehgal, VP, creative, JWT, says, "We've always seen anti-piracy campaigns, but no one had done an anti-fake campaign yet. So, we already had a very fresh starting point. Once we had that, we decided to take a dig at fake products by positioning them as 'bad jokes'."

"We juxtaposed the idea with the observation that fake products have a very slight spelling change from the originals, and deliberately created those 'bad jokes'. We're hopeful that the campaign will generate much needed awareness against fakes and help original brands and create leadership status for our client," Sehgal adds.

This campaign comes soon after an FIR was registered against Askmebazaar and its representatives for alleged 'duping'. The brand had also recently released a campaign featuring actor Farhan Akhtar that positions the marketplace as a 'stressbuster' and an escape, especially for working professionals.

Askmebazaar was founded in 2012 and is a fully-owned subsidary of Getit Infomedia. It claims to have more than 9000 registered sellers.