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Is buying and using fake brand names... really that wrong?

I could run to the mall and get myself some Ray Bans for 200 dollars. Or I could get some fake ones that are really high quality for 20 dollars. Why would I spend 180 bucks more so that some rich corporation fatcats can earn even more money? A decent genuine Rolex would cost you 15K. A fake one of near-parallel quality (swap out the gold, perhaps) would only cost others a fraction of the price. Calvin Klein, Armani, Zara, whatever, you name it. None of these corporations are "doing badly". Quality is out of the question. Anybody who shops frequently in China/India know that counterfeits only get better in quality. The whole copyright thing is a reason not to shop for counterfeits, but that doesn't really move me. Marc Jacobs, or any any other big brand name can design the shittiest pieces of clothing, and they'd still sell like hotcakes. Corporations win, we don't. I'm by no means rich. Mostly cause I'm a student. I saved $150 to get myself some Ray Ban Wayfarers, just to have my cousin return from China and gift me a pair of fake ones I can't honestly tell much of a dramatic difference. Thus I returned my real Ray Bans, and used the money to buy a pair of Audio Technica headphones. I for one have been thinking about this for a long time. In a society where the rich people look "good", and the poor people look "not-so-good", where rich people can afford the most "fashionable" clothing, while "poor" people get hand-me-downs and whatever they can find for $20 or less, convince me why I should respect Intellectual property or fashion corporations when they obviously don't respect the common consumer. That's only for the big expensive brands. I still <3 Billabong, Quiksilver and all those other trendier brands which offer fashion for it's actual price.

Public Comments

1. there going to make it illegal so...
2. I get what you're saying. My problem with 'fake' stuff isn't the intellectual property or copyright issue or whatever, it's the quality of the good. Once, I did something kinda similar, I bought a fake made in China iPhone for 120$ (SciPhone i68) , since a real unlocked iPhone costs close to 700$. But then, after almost a month of using it, the screen completely froze up (I did get it fixed in Egypt, since we have a lot of fake chinese crap here, so we know how to fix it) but still... Also, like I bought these 7$ slip-on sneakers at K-Mart instead of buying Vans for 40$, cuz you know they look pretty much the same. But the fake slip-ons did indeed look bad. Like I'd be wearing a pair of (real) Levis and these shoes, and like a hollister shirt, and the shoes would be like the 'black sheep'. So I think, you should try to get the real stuff whenever you can, not because of copyright or anything, but because it is usually better in quality, and usually in prestige as well. Though I agree with only referring to big expensive brands. I'm thinking of getting some fake Chinese Gucci and Louis Vuitton sneakers :D