Today we learned that Chinese intellectual property infringements don’t have to even make rational sense: residents of Wuxi, China discovered this Starbucks knockoff in a commercial development. It’s not so much a “Starbucks knockoff,” however, as it is more a “cat walking over a keyboard whose font just so happens to be the same color as Starbucks’s logo”.
According to the South China Morning Post, the entire development is full of knockoff stores with US brands, though none as egregious as “SFFCCCKS” — and all of them are empty:
Zara and H&M have morphed into “Zare” and “H&N,” American electronics company Apple is “Appla” … and even the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has made an appearance – only with one of the characters of its Chinese name removed and replaced with another, rendering the name nonsensical.
While Wuxi residents are embarrassed by how stupid all these names sound (“How could the people that put these signs up possibly be proud of such a thing?” asked one internet commenter), the real estate company running the typo-ridden development claimed that they put the signs up to show potential renters the commercial concept of the neighborhood. That is, if the “concept” is geared towards “People who play Scrabble too much”.
EDIT: A colleague pointed out that the sign looks like it says “Starfucks,” which is pretty great.
[SCMP via The Consumerist]
RELATED:
The Colonel Vs. Hitler: KFC Sues Thai Chicken Restaurant For Taking Its Logo And Doing This
Charlie Trotter Sued For Allegedly Selling Counterfeit Wine, Calls It A Case Of ‘Buyer’s Remorse’
Bourdain Slams DC Dim Sum Chain Restaurant For Claiming He Endorsed Them
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
