Are Copycat Brands Competing Unfairly?

I was recently duped into buying what I thought was a popular fish and sauce product from a retailer to later find that it was an own label product with mimicing packaging. I enjoyed the food, but felt a little cheated I must admit. This wasn't the first time either; whilst traveling around Thailand, I had to keep my wits about me when ordering alcohol in bars as it's known that counterfeit or home brewed alcohol can often be served from recycled, popular branded bottles. In this case I was more worried about the health risks rather than the financial loss, so have decided to blog about copycat brands and thier impact on the food and drink industry as well as consumers.

Packaging is sometimes copied to simulate popular brands in the hope to dupe consumers to buy their version without second guessing on quality or content, but is this harmless competition or a more serious issue, such as a health risk. Is it fair that unless consumers are vigilant they can be misled by lookalike packaging and to what extent does it damage the brand that has been copied? Copycat packaging is a problem occurring across the globe yet there is still only a limited amount of information covering this particular topic.

A product is considered a lookalike if it features a combination of similar colours, layout of graphics, iconography and language style.  

  
Alcohol copying is particularly concerning; people lacking the technical skills and knowledge are producing unsafe alcohol. In some cases ingredients such as automotive antifreeze liquid and high percentages of methanol have been found.

Brand owners can invest huge amounts of money into research and development to base marketing and brand imagery decisions on with the incentive that they will receive back adequate benefits. By copying well established and successful brands, the copycats are getting a ‘free ride’ off the recognition of similar visual cues. They are deemed successful when consumers accept the lookalike without rational consideration.

Consumer group Which? Investigated copycat products in the UK and found 150 examples of lookalike products that they felt looked too similar being produced by large retailers like Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Boots, Morrisons, Superdrug, Tescos and Sainsburys. Which?’s report stated how retailers are misleading consumers into purchasing own-label products by ‘borrowing’ elements of brand packaging. The study found that one-fifth of members had at least once accidently bought a supermarket own brand, with 60% saying that they felt misled and annoyed by the error. Some retailers have defended their packaging choice saying that they use similar colours to branded products to assist consumers in finding products quickly.

John Noble, Director of the British Brands Group, said in an interview by Which? “Our research shows that consumers are more likely to buy own label products if they look like brands. Currently in the UK there is little to stop a competitor packaging its products to look like a familiar brand, whether or not the products performance is in any way similar. That can’t be good if we want a market in which shoppers can make informed decisions”.

In my opinion, copycat products are essentially plagiarizing branded companies. Identity theft is a serious crime so why is copying a grey area of the law?