This month, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative included Alibaba’s Taobao online marketplace on its list of “Notorious Markets.” Again. While citing a high volume of reported counterfeiting and piracy, the USTR did acknowledge the steps Alibaba has taken to make it easier for fakes to be removed, but said “the enforcement program continues to be burdensome and insufficient to end the sale of counterfeit products on the platform.”
Reacting to strike two, being on the notorious list for two years in a row, Alibaba’s President Mike Evans suggested in a blog post that the company’s presence on the list “is not an accurate representation of Alibaba’s results in protecting brands and IP, and we have no other choice but to conclude that this is a deeply flawed, biased and politicized process.” Fake news apparently, online products-style.
The decision by the USTR is a blow to Alibaba’s international expansion strategy, which depends on winning the trust of U.S. and global brands. Alibaba dominates ecommerce in China, with Taobao and the company’s other platforms accounting for a majority of online retail sales. A total of 25 online sites, along with 18 physical markets, made the USTR’s annual list for sales of pirated and counterfeit goods.
Taobao, China’s largest ecommerce marketplace and its third-most popular website, remained off the list from 2012 to 2015, but was included in 2016 and now again in 2017. Compared to Amazon in the U.S., though, it’s still very small potatoes.
According to Alibaba’s website, more than than 230,000 Taobao stores were closed from September 2016 to August 2017. The company claims to have provided leads to law enforcement resulting in more than 1,000 arrests and the closing of nearly 1,000 counterfeit manufacturing and distribution locations. We’ve talked before how difficult it is to compete on price in the promotional products industry. Based on the existence of a “notorious markets” list, would you still be willing to risk purchasing from a site with a reputation for selling counterfeit merchandise simply because of a cheaper price?
We talked last time about the fad known as the “Tide Pod Challenge,” and the idea that no matter how careful you are with product safety, you run the risk of some idiot purposely misusing the product you source and exposing the company or a client to unexpected product liability claims. In videos posted on YouTube and social media, people gag, cough, and sometimes begin foaming at the mouth after biting into laundry pods as a part of this online “challenge.”
"The 'laundry packet challenge' is neither funny nor without serious health implications," Stephen Kaminski, the American Association of Poison Control Center's CEO and executive director, said in a statement last week. "We have seen a large spike in single-load laundry packet exposures among teenagers since these videos have been uploaded."
Laundry pods, which contain brightly colored detergent packaged in a clear film, dissolve easily in water. But they can also release their toxic ingredients when they come into contact with saliva or wet hands, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
"The liquid detergent in the pods is not the same as regular liquid detergent. It has a higher concentration of surfactants, chemicals that are responsible for stain removal," Eric J. Moorhead, president and principal scientist of Good Chemistry LLC, told CNN.
In the past, children have been hospitalized with difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness and temporary vision loss due to chemical burns to the eye, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In 2015, laundry packets were the third most common cause of unintentional poisoning in children under 5, behind acetaminophen and blood pressure medication.
So, in this time of ‘everything and anything goes’ when it comes to the opportunity to go viral on social media, what’s a self-respecting brand supposed to do to protect itself? With the Super Bowl just around the corner, Tide partnered with New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, known for his straight talk as much as for his prowess on the field, to develop a campaign aimed at teens. You can view the video here.
Gronkowski’s message in the :20 video was characteristically blunt. "What the heck is going on, people? Use Tide pods for washing, not eating," he said. "Do not eat." The brand wanted "to deliver a safety message that relates to young people who are participating in this conversation on social media," said Petra Renck, spokesperson for Tide parent company Procter & Gamble, told PR Week. While you may not be able to afford Gronk for your safety message, what are you doing to over-communicate the dangers of using your products?
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for 40 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. You can find him volunteering as a Guardian ad Litem, traveling the world with his lovely wife, or enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Connect with Jeff on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram, or reach out to him at jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.