A campaign observed from a distance is known only by its most dramatic events.

And while ups and downs certainly help shape the path of many a movement, for those on the ground the experience is much more balanced. Campaigns require patience. They are won with gradual groundswells, not a collection of crises.

That said, over the past few weeks the fight against fakes had a few of its own peaks and valleys.

The recent ruling by the U.S. Second Court of Appeals that cleared eBay of charges filed against it for copyright violation could seem like a setback for hardened anticounterfeiters.

In response to a 2004 suit filed by Tiffany’s claiming that thousands of fake pieces of jewelry bearing its logo were peddled on the site and made eBay liable for trademark infringement, the court upheld an earlier ruling and cleared the online retailer of the charges.

The presiding judge found that eBay’s policy of booting auctions for impostor goods – after a request is made, mind you – is a sufficient effort to fight fakes.

Further, as the lawsuit claimed that the advertisements and the hyperlinks that drive traffic to eBay could represent false advertising if the goods are fake, the ruling stated that a retailer doesn’t need to stop advertising altogether just because some of the products sold on its site may be frauds.

The court noted that it would very much violate the law if an ad claimed that all the products were authentic.

And so, the court suggested that future disclaimers would have to warn consumers that some of the products sold on a site might be frauds.

Though it might seem otherwise, we see our authentic pieces of glassware as half-full. At its core, the verdict actually encourages anticounterfeiting efforts.

Remember the ruling would have been far different if eBay hadn’t had policies in place to prevent the sale of bogus goods.

The lawsuit grabbed the retailing community by its lapels and gave it a good shake. It has helped to shape future sales practice by mandating, in so many words, the presence of a disclaimer.

Better still would be for eBay to develop a series of professional tutorials on how to spot fakes. We’d be eager to assist in the production.

The fight against fakes did get a boost this past week as several storefronts in Manhattan’s Chinatown that were raided for selling fake items back in February 2008 were fined $800,000. If they want to reopen, they’ll have to pay the fine.

The group was warned that any future rentals would have to be to legitimate businesses if they want to continue to do business.

The original raid closed 32 stores. If the property owners continue to host illegal vendors and fail to rent to legit businesses, they will face hefty fines or be shut down.

If we take a quick glance in the recent rear view, we’d see a dramatic S-curve, one up, one down. But the line drawn by the steadier, winning hand is cut through the middle of the course. While we must learn from these grand events, our movement requires balance.

There will be upswings and downswings, gentle down-sloping ramps and speed bumps, chutes and ladders. But it’s important to remember that our fight will be won by gradual groundswells, not the rogue waves that currently dominate the media.

Each conversation that you begin about the real cost of the fake trade is its own groundswell. Start enough discussions and the counterfeiters will be caught standing in front of a tsunami holding a fake chamois. 

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If history’s taught us anything, it’s that we’re most likely to hear that ‘patience is a virtue’ when we least want to - cooling our heels in a bathroom line that snakes around a stadium or when waiting for food while our stomachs bang on us like steel drums.

Patience is certainly not a bad thing. Emerson believed we ought to adopt the pace of nature, as its secret is patience. And several other nimble, perhaps more realistic minds claimed that while most people will praise this virtue, very few actually practice it.

In short, patience is a lovely concept, but it’s about as easy to practice it as keeping your hands in your pockets while strolling through Willy Wonka’s candy forest.

In the fight against fakes, when you’re grappling with ruthless profiteers who wouldn’t know virtue if they poured it on their cereal each morning, how could we possibly afford to be patient?

Well, even as we demand swift justice for counterfeiters, a recent case has shown us how this tricky virtue can win the day.  

A criminal syndicate that moved millions of dollars of fake goods through the port of Baltimore was recently put on I.C.E., as it were - a ring of 9 counterfeiters has been indicted for smuggling counterfeits into the country with the intent to sell.

A 19-month, slow-cooked investigation run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency hog-tied a counterfeiting operation that had been moving a serious amount of sham weight. Items seized in the haul included:

• 33 shipping containers filled with fake goods
• 120,000 pairs of faux Nikes
• 500,000 sham Coach bags
• 10,000 pairs of knockoff Gucci and Coach shoes
• 500 phony Cartier wristwatches

Think about those poor hucksters. What was supposed to be a windfall turned out to be a career-ending collision with the justice system. And they’d probably made plans to put in a pool.

Their lazy backstroking afternoons have turned into frenzied laps in the shark tank. The indictments call for a hefty penalty. If, and we’ve got our fingers crossed, they’re convicted, the counterfeiters could be slammed with the following punishments:

• the forfeit of all fake goods or their monetary value
• a fine of at least $1 million for each guilty count of smuggling
• a fine of at least $1 million for each guilty count of trafficking
• the forced surrender of any equipment used in the trafficking, including vehicles and containers

Combined with some sizable jail time, it’s just the type of prize package they deserve.

The hard work and yes, patience, of the I.C.E. and their British counterparts earned a big knock against counterfeiting.

That said, the waiting game is best left to law enforcement agencies. When it comes to spreading the word about the fake trade, we can’t delay.

Much like the luxuries we aim to protect, patience is best practiced by master craftspeople. Faking it can have disastrous results.

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It's a difficult truth to swallow, but anyone interested in buying a fake really won't have a lot of trouble making a purchase.

There was a time when shopping trips for knockoffs involved shady deals in dingy rooms, when fakes were bought in a cloud of exhaust and cigarette smoke in the back of a van that had windows tinted with duct tape. 

It won't take Old Golds and diesel-scented air fresheners to recreate that type of experience. It's still an option. But because a simple Internet connection provides access to a vast marketplace of authentic and counterfeit goods, alike, most transactions involving fakes are done in the digital space. 

What was once accomplished by hurried black market exchanges is now done in slippers and Snuggies. 

If it weren’t easy enough, in some areas of the country sham goods are actually being sold in major retail stores. Back in 2006, Fendi brought a lawsuit against Wal-mart for selling fake versions of its purses. Burberry recently sued The TJX Companies (operator of TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Homegoods stores) for a similar offense.

Whether or not these retailers were aware of the phonies on their shelves remains to be seen and there’s a chance it may have been an innocent mistake. But the only sure way to prevent these knock-offs from appearing in stores or on websites is to kill the demand for them. It begins and ends with the consumer.

As much as we’d like it to, the demand isn’t likely to go away in the near future, but a bright spot has recently appeared on the anticounterfeiting horizon and we believe it will make a significant contribution to the fight against fakes.

Known as the Real Deal campaign, this initiative calls for an end to the sale of counterfeits in Britain’s markets – in the States we know them as flea markets, green markets or open-air markets. It represents the combined effort of national and local agencies working alongside market organizers and vendors to push out the counterfeiters.

It’s a grassroots call to arms that continues to gain momentum. With over 40 organizations already committed to the charter, the Real Deal campaign has been steadily gaining momentum since it began in July 2009. In time, counterfeiters around the world will feel its effect.

You might be skeptical about this last claim. It’s natural to wonder how improved enforcement in micro-markets can possibly put a dent in a global epidemic that’s responsible for over a trillion dollars in sales each year. At the end of the day, it's the consumers who are the first and last line of defense against counterfeiting. 

And while the efforts of law enforcement agencies are crucial and greatly appreciated, it’s a job they’d rather not have, in fact, we all wish there wasn’t a problem that required their attention.

That’s why the customers are so important to the fight. Newly enlightened shoppers who might have bought a fake are less likely to because they learned about the human rights abuse tied to counterfeiting. And they are not just turning away from fakes themselves, they’re spreading the word. 

Communication and education are the pillars of our fight. One cannot successfully stand without the other.

The Real Deal is exactly what this fight needs. It improves dialogue between agencies and individuals, as well as the organizers and consumers.

So while the current availability of sham goods is frustrating, efforts like this campaign give us further hope.

Take note counterfeiters: with all these parties are working together, you ought to start looking for those rocks you crawled out from under. Seems like it's going to get stormy for you.

Whether or not you believe in fate isn’t just something that gets asked at high school dances, anymore.

The question may be worded differently than it was when the lighting and acoustics of the school gym were a little more important in your life, but the answer still reveals if you take an active role in the choices you make each day.

Left entirely to fate, the decision-making process is on autopilot. But most people believe they play a big part when it comes to making choices. Before acting on an impulse, they consider the options, think about repercussions, and click yea or nay. A nice rational process, right?

It turns out that we might not be as sensible as we think.

One of the speakers at SXSW on Sunday challenged the commonly accepted belief that we make our decisions based on rational factors. Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and a social scientist at Duke University, gave the audience some pretty compelling reasons why much of the routine is often out of the decision-maker’s control and based on things that are…well, irrational.

There is a difference between what we believe influences our decisions and what really sways us. It’s a common belief that humans are capable of making choices in their best interest, but the truth is we’re often not. We procrastinate, we break diets and commitments to exercise, and we don’t schedule regular checkups with our doctors. We exist sub-optimally.

Ariely believes that when emotions take over, and they often do, humans are more likely to focus on their short-term desires. The longer goals of health and financial well-being are overridden by feelings that would postpone a swim or put off paying bills right now.

The next time Chatroulette! feels like an obvious choice over a jog or a Pilates class, unless you’re a social scientist or an avant-garde marketer with a professional interest in the site, it's fair to assume that your emotions are driving the procrastination trolley.

The same holds true for counterfeiting. Most consumers who buy something fake understand they are doing something they shouldn't be. In the moment, their emotions override longer goals of honesty and they make a purchase.

To prevent any self-sabotage, Ariely suggests using pre-commitments and incentives. So if you join a gym, it's best to do it with another person. You’ll both be more likely to go. Even better is the use of an incentive where each time you duck a workout, you have to pay a penalty.

Ariely became interested in the subject of decision-making after an explosion burned 70% of his body and he was confined to a hospital for three years. The daily routine of recovery involved an excruciating bandaging process that he believed could be done in a less painful way. Despite his protests, the attending nurses insisted on a certain technique – quick and fast.

After he was discharged, he began conducting research on pain. When the experiments validated his original belief that lower intensity of pain over a longer time is preferable for patients, he set out to understand why the nurses, who wanted nothing but the smallest amount of discomfort for their patients and the shortest healing time, could be so willingly wrong. After witnessing the disconnect between what the nurses desired for the patients and their behavior, Ariely was curious about what other aspects of our lives might exhibit this kind of irrationality.

This desire to understand human behavior became the driving force behind his research.

Ariely finished Sunday’s discussion with a demonstration where he had audience members bid on a $20 bill. There were two stipulations, the first being that the winner would pay him whatever they agreed on and would receive the bill. The second stipulation was that the next highest bidder had to pay him as well without any reward. In a race of two, no one wanted to be second, so the bidding kept growing.

The emotion of the potential deal clouded the participants’ judgment so fully that they couldn’t see the long-term problem created by the game.

He concluded his talk at SXSW by assuring the audience that these types of contests are best avoided.

So a solid rule of thumb says that after an initial jolt of excitement hits in any situation, it's a good idea to ask if what you're feeling at the time is in sync with your long-term goals before making a decision. A little patience and self-awareness is all it requires. 

You can see more of Ariely’s work at www.predictablyirrational.com. 

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At the fifth annual Harper’s Bazaar Anticounterfeiting Summit in May 2009, attendees were abuzz about a particular item parked outside the Hearst Tower. Roped off and resting on a green carpet on 8th Avenue was a dazzling piece of automotive craftsmanship: a 1967 Ferrari P4.

Finished in that famous shade of red, the car was the vision of a true artisan, the perfect blend of engineering and elegance. It was the kind of vehicle you imagine cutting corners along the Amalfi Coast or snaking along the roads of the Tuscan countryside.

As it’s rumored that only one completely original version of the car still exists, it was a rare experience for car buffs and casual observers strolling between 56th and 57th streets. But because this beauty was part of the Anticounterfeiting Summit, where everyone attending was committed to ending the sale of fake goods, the auto had to be flawed in some way.

There were comments about the hubcaps and the windscreen being counterfeit. The more refined eyes were able to detect a pair of phony wipers and sham taillights, but identified by themselves, these components only represented a fraction of a larger problem - the entire vehicle was fake. From the steering wheel to the tailpipe, there wasn’t an authentic piece of Ferrari engineering in the car.

When you think about what it took to build the fraud-o-mobile, it's both striking and depressing.  The project required a huge amount of time and effort, but it wasn't the kind of sacrifice that should be admired or rewarded.

It isn’t flattery. It’s forgery. It’s the difference between a healthy relationship and a parasitic one. 

As the Faux-rari shows us, counterfeiting continues to seep into every nook of the marketplace, including the realms we thought were too complicated to fake. By pushing their wares, the sham peddlers drain the life force of authentic craftspeople. They are able to do so not only because they are motivated and sinister, but because of the large appetite for cheap versions of coveted brands.

If we increase our understanding of the counterfeiting epidemic, we can reduce the appetite for sham goods. No matter how innocent it may seem, buying a fake just isn’t an option when you understand what’s required to produce it. 

Don’t confuse the end product with what’s truly at stake. It’s an easy misstep to rank the dangers of certain counterfeit goods. While a bogus handbag might not seem as big a deal as a fake pill that contains none of its advertised active ingredients, we need to remember that this only considers the consumer's point of view.

What about those who are truly abused by counterfeiting: humans forced to work in despicable conditions and children sold into these jobs who are later mangled by faulty machinery or broken by neglect?

We need to reorient ourselves. Let's think less about what purchasing a fake does for us and, instead, consider the people hurt by these purchases. The consequences are bigger than a passing desire to find cheaper versions of things we love.

When human rights and creative vision are threatened, the stakes are just too high to obscure what's really at stake. 

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Aktion Plagiarius was founded in 1977 by Professor Rido Busse after the German industrial designer discovered an imitation of one of his designs on sale at a trade fair in Frankfurt for a price that severely undercut his own.

Busse desperately sought legal recourse, but when he found the German government of the late 1970s did not sufficiently protect the originators of consumer goods, he decided that the best way to punish the imitators was to draw negative publicity to their actions. Busse designed a statue of a gnome with a golden nose as his anti-award, a play on the German saying “to earn oneself a gold nose” (or to earn much money), and created an award ceremony to “name and shame” the pirates. Roughly 30 years later, what began as an award ceremony has grown into a full-blown anti-counterfeiting consultancy.

As the organization’s managing director, Christine LaCroix oversees strategic development as well as day-to-day operations. On a given day she might be sitting at her desk counseling a company that has been the victim of plagiarism, writing an article about recent discoveries of counterfeiting, or curating over 350 examples of piracy that are housed in the museum. Another day will find her driving with the museum’s traveling exhibition to a trade show, where she will speak about fair business practice or how to fight the problem of product plagiarism.

Since she began in 2001, no two days have been the same for LaCroix, but the fight against counterfeiting is something she believes in so strongly that she is tireless in her search to find dynamic ways to get the message across to the world.

How can we continue to educate the public about the problem of counterfeiting?

We need politicians, trade associations and corporate groups to act in concert.  In order to successfully fight this problem, we have to increase consumer awareness. Everyone understands the theft of property is a crime, but, intellectual property theft is too abstract for most people to understand. To explain how damaging it can be, we must make it understandable by showing it in publications, TV reports, stories, events, and seminars.

We know that a picture is worth a thousand words and the public needs to be educated with as many of these real examples as possible. They need to know about child labor, poor manufacturing conditions, long hours, neglect for safety and hygiene, and the lack of protection for factory workers against dangerous machinery and noxious chemical substances. Consumers have to understand that organized crime is heavily involved in the business of fakes. They must know that they are supporting illegal activities by buying fake products. We need to further publicize the dangers of the inferior quality of the fakes and plagiarisms—dangers that are not often visible at first sight.

What is the real cost of fakes to society?

Especially in economic hard times, when consumers are more likely to focus on price, they may be unwittingly drawn to cheap imitations that fit their budgets. However, the imitators are not concerned with quality, safety or ecology. They knowingly put the consumers’ health and lives at stake. It can be very dangerous.

Manufacturers invest in Research & Development. They invest in design and in quality controls. They do this so they can launch innovative and safe products. But to do so, they must make huge investments. But because of the abundance of cheap fakes and plagiarisms, more and more companies’ ability to recoup this money is affected and they, along with their employees, suffer. Good brand reputations are destroyed, and unfounded product liability claims are made. Jobs are lost. Piracy affects everyone.

How has counterfeiting evolved?

Counterfeiting has always existed, but it has grown enormously with globalization and the Internet. In the 1970s and 80s, counterfeiters focused on luxury products, but the trashy quality of the knockoffs was clear. Back then the majority of the counterfeiting occurred in Taiwan, China, and Korea. Nowadays, when we consider the whole production chain of a counterfeit good, from awarding of a contract through its manufacture up to the end customer, it is clear that this is a global problem. It is not isolated to a specific region.

Official organizations estimate that plagiarisms and fakes cause worldwide losses of several hundred billion Euros and several hundred thousand jobs each year. This number continues to grow. The explosion of technology accelerates this growth, namely the anonymous distribution channels on the web.

As the criminal know-how and experience increases and technology continues to make it easier to produce high quality fakes in large numbers, the number of victims will also expand.

What was once a “cottage industry” has developed into a highly sophisticated international network of manufacture, logistics and distribution.

Is counterfeiting more dangerous than it has been?

Definitely. The problem is bigger than ever. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals that contain none, too little, or too much of the active ingredients have entered the market. We have seen electronic devices sold without safety and quality controls that present the danger of short-circuiting, combustion and explosion. Poor manufacturing conditions have led to bacteria found in fake perfumes.

How do we improve penalties and enforcement?

In theory, the intellectual property laws and regulations of countries like the U.S. and Europe, and also those of many other countries, are quite good. However, the fines and penalties imposed on imitators are far too low and do not deter them. As long as the counterfeiters’ profit margins are similar to drug dealers while the penalties are much lower, the product pirates will expand their businesses. Enormous penalties are essential if we want to stop this. 

What are the biggest areas of counterfeit growth?

We have seen growth in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and beverage, electronic and clothing sectors. Some of the scariest growth happens in more of the day-to-day products like machine parts, vacuum pumps, pressure gauges, pneumatic devices and spare parts, among others.

Where have you seen the greatest success in your efforts?

Our major goals are the increased awareness of the public, protection of innovative companies, and the prevention of imitators.

We have received positive feedback from entrepreneurs as well as consumers for our exhibitions (museum and traveling exhibitions) as well as our lectures. People are often grateful for the information and the “first-hand-view” on counterfeiting and its impacts.

We are in close contact with justice ministries and other organizations to help expand the enforcement of the intellectual property laws. In the late 80s, we contributed to the improvement of the design patent law and the introduction of a law against product piracy that includes the possibility not only to prosecute the manufacturers of imitations but also the retailers and distributors.

Our Plagiarius awards aim to deter imitators through public exposure, or “name and shame.” Western companies are highly concerned about their reputation and the significant media coverage of the negative award can make an impact. Numerous imitators have brokered a mutual agreement with the original producers before or shortly after the Plagiarius Award Ceremony, for example they have withdrawn remainders of stock from the market, have signed forbearance declarations and/or revealed their suppliers.

When the topic of counterfeiting is brought up in law enforcement offices across the country and around the world, one of the first questions that senior staff has to ask is whether or not they have the resources to fight the problem.

In a cheerless economy, the effort to find funding for the fight against fakes is like sending a pig out to hunt truffles in the forest with its snoot stuffed full of fabric softener sheets that were dipped in gasoline.

In this environment, you have to be smart about your resources.

What's the better choice, do you go after the big takedowns of the distribution operations that grab headlines or do you arrest the local counterfeit vendors? A case can be made for either one. Knocking around the small vendors disrupts the money flow to the sham overlords, and the bigger busts can discourage the entire counterfeit industry.

Either way, without the funds to pursue the full spectrum of enforcement, it's not easy to know the best course of action. But, just as the criminals are innovative, enforcement efforts are evolving too.

A recent joint effort by Nike and the Milwaukee, WI police force may have given us a workable solution.

Working together in an ongoing operation, the police department and federal agents have been performing controlled buys of fake Nike goods from local merchants using marked bills and confidential informants. Their efforts have produced several arrests and seizures . 

With annual revenues of around $19 billion, you have to wonder why Nike would get involved in a smaller campaign in the first place. Is this the best uses of scarce resources?

Two factors motivated the effort. First off, Nike’s trademark is held in Wisconsin. Secondly, despite the relatively small seizures, the sale price of the fakes and a pair of legitimate sneakers (around $40 for the fakes and $120 for the real version) is close enough that a customer who could afford the real version might go with the forgeries instead. Someone who buys a faux Louis Vuitton wouldn't necessarily pay ten times the price of a fake for the real deal.

The operation is a fine example of how law enforcement and a trademark holder can work together in the fight against fakes. And while the results might seem miniscule in the face of a $200 billion dollar counterfeit industry, this shared initiative represents two of the three prongs needed to defeat the epidemic: (i.) savvy law enforcement and (ii.) a brand committed to protecting its interests.

You, the educated citizen, are the third prong. You understand the real cost of fakes. Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for U.S. ICE, was quoted in the article as saying “the victims [of counterfeiting] are American businesses, trademark holders and people who make and distribute the authentic products," was on the right track, but only got it partially right.

Never forget that the victims are not only the trademark holders, but real people whose lives are ruined by forced labor and abuse.

The problem is bigger than revenue and line items. It’s about basic human rights.

That said, we encourage you to become a passionate member of the third prong. Spread the word and join the fight.

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“Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.” – Eleanor Roosevelt 

Ms. Roosevelt’s suggestion is undeniably eloquent, but at first pass it may seem a bit off.  When we hear the word “justice,” it’s natural to think of a two-sided equation: Party A, who has been wronged, demands that justice be served, while Party B, the toe-stepping group, does their darnedest to avoid being served. So while justice, in both concept and practice, balances the scale, it seems that it does so by only benefitting Party A.  

The upside of the justice system is obvious. But while it helps compensate for and defend against damages–pay for your crimes with cash, time, or both–it seems like the slighted are the only ones who experience the upside. So how can it “be for both” then?  

The latest example of anti-counterfeiting justice occurred this past Tuesday, January 19^th when U.S. District Court Judge Paul Crotty found a New York-based importer and online dealer guilty of peddling sham goods and awarded Burberry $1.5 million in damages.  

In 2005, Designer Imports, Inc. entered into an agreement with Burberry not to sell counterfeit goods on its site. Two years later, Burberry sued the company after discovering fake versions of its products for sale on the same site. Burberry’s investigators found what they claimed were 14 examples of phony goods.

Five years later, the presiding judge agreed that 12 of the items were counterfeit and penalized the offending company. At $100,000 per violation plus attorneys’ fees, Designer Imports, Inc. has been ordered to pay Burberry $1.5 million, though the brand had originally sought $6.5 million. And while the settlement bars the offender from selling any more faux goods, the company is allowed to continue selling legit items on its site.  

When we consider this recent example, Ms. Roosevelt’s meaning becomes a bit clearer.  It may be quickly summed as ‘justice in, justice out.’ She was referring to fair punishment. 

The process which penalizes the peddlers of counterfeit goods is designed to correct a specific wrong and to set things right again, but it can not exceed its mandate by delivering an unjust sentence.  Burberry received 23% of its original request and Designer Imports was allowed to remain open, but was there justice on both sides of the equation? Was the punishment fair? 

We certainly think so and congratulate Burberry and their diligent inspectors for ensuring that the counterfeiters know what lies in store for them.  Ms. Roosevelt’s statement is clearer for their efforts.  

We hope that future justices keep in mind that these cases are about something bigger than dollar amounts - lives brutalized by the production process of bogus goods cannot be quantified.

We do not ask that the two-sided type of justice advocated by Ms. Roosevelt be denied in the cases of criminals punished for these abuses, but we do demand that those responsible for punishing them always keep the big picture in mind.

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It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor. —Cicero

Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.  —Plato

It’s early in the new year, so there's a high likelihood that your resolution to exercise more is intact, but if you’re anything like us, historically these vows have had the shelf life of an un-watered orchid.

Most of our day would be put to better use exercising, unless you're an emergency room doctor or crossing guard. Exercise is a truly wonderful thing and though, like us, you may not engage in it as often as you’d like, we all know the value of a good sweat.

Sweat is a particularly odd currency, when you think about it. It signifies effort and resolve, commitment and sacrifice, tenacity and perspective. It’s one of those unique things like hard work and baking – the latter shows our hand as far as our new year’s resolutions are concerned - that is a reward in itself.

Sweat means you care enough about something to fight your own limitations for it.

So, that said, we’re either ready to go for a jog or throw in a copy of Rudy.

Advertisers are aware of the motivating power of sweat. They know it sells. Can you think of a commercial for a sports drink or a new shoe line where the volume of the little bulbs of sweat peeling off athletes isn't identical to the water off a sheep dog that has recently come out of a lake?

Here’s what the advertisers know: hard work is inspiring and contagious. That kind of commitment deserves our admiration and if we happen to buy a pair of shorts and pick up an energy bar along the way, so be it. But any effort so unbridled demands that we acknowledge it and, in the best of situations, we might even mimic it.

That said, we just put Rudy on pause and jogged over to the closet that's become a graveyard for our infomercial peddled exercise equipment and grabbed the nearest dusty item that, were it not for the fluorescent plastic, looks like it belongs in a medieval dungeon.

The only thing about this ‘sweat sells’ knowledge is that the counterfeiters are aware of it too. In fact, all they require to throw together some sort of sham version of a legitimate item is that it fits in the aforesaid phrase: “______ sells.” If it sells, it's going to be counterfeited, and if it is counterfeited, there are dangers that follow. And while they can’t counterfeit sweat, they can copy the items designed to stimulate its production, like the large quantity of fake exercise equipment – the Ab Coaster - recently seized by U.S. Customs in Long Beach, CA.

Customs is cautioning would be consumers to be wary of purchases made on Craigs List and online. Fake exercise equipment can lead to serious injury because the construction and the materials are of a lesser quality – they may work the wrong muscles and in the wrong way. And be wary of the stories that sellers may provided to give the fake item a hint of authenticity. The only way you’re sure to get a legitimate product is to buy from the manufacturer or a licensed dealer.

Make an informed purchase. And with all this talk of sweat, let's not lose sight of how those exploited by the counterfeiters toil in miserable conditions to produce the fakery.

We won’t tire of this fight. We’ll expend ourselves to win it. and we encourage you to do the same.

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