AILSA CHANG, HOST:
OK, it seems like every week, there is a new main character - right? - someone or something that the internet is obsessed with. And I try to keep up with all of it, but I don't inhale social media the way that some of our resident young people do, like our producer Mia Venkat, who is always there for anything that I missed. And she is here with something new. Mia, hello.
MIA VENKAT, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: All right, so tell me, who or what is everyone talking about this week?
VENKAT: All right, Ailsa. The main character of this week isn't a person, but it's a concept. It's the Chinese luxury goods conspiracy.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANG: Wait. What (laughter)?
VENKAT: OK, yeah. So this one does require some explanation, obviously. But it starts with these superviral videos that have been flooding TikTok all week from Chinese manufacturers.
CHANG: Yeah (laughter). I saw this one guy who basically claimed that he makes Hermes bags in his factory, like, basically the same bag you would buy from Hermes.
VENKAT: Yep. That's right. Exactly.
CHANG: Let me guess. It's totally genuine.
VENKAT: Yeah, we're going to get to that. But...
CHANG: (Laughter).
VENKAT: So this video, the one that you're talking about, is from a TikTok user named Sen Bags. But that name has changed a bunch because some of his accounts have been suspended and videos have been taken down. But I saw one video with over 10 million views before it got taken down. By the way, I did reach out to Hermes and TikTok. Hermes has not responded, and TikTok has declined to comment. But here's a clip on that video.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED TIKTOKKER: By the way, Hermes will charge you 38,000 USD for one bag. That's because more than 90% of the price is paid for its logo. But if you do not care about logo, you just want the same quality, same material, you can just buy from us.
CHANG: Wait, people are paying $38,000 for one Hermes bag? What?
VENKAT: That's the thing. That price isn't right. And so he's claiming that his bags are exact duplicates of a bag that, you know, luxury brand Hermes offers for a fraction of the cost. And that's not true. I'll explain the rest later. But that's just one video. There have been tons of viral videos with similar claims that American consumers have been duped by brands and not all luxury, either. But American consumers have really responded to this.
CHANG: Wait, but haven't counterfeit goods always been a thing everywhere on the internet, like, from lots of different countries? Why are we hearing these videos going viral now?
VENKAT: Yeah, I think there's a few things at play. First, there's a lot of confusion about tariffs in the U.S. right now, and it seems like these videos are kind of targeted at that, and they're capitalizing on that uncertainty. But also people love feeling like they're in on a deal. If a shirt's on sale, my mom is going to buy it in every color. That is the only certainty I have in this life.
CHANG: (Laughter).
VENKAT: And then the last thing is, people love a conspiracy. They want to feel like they're in on a big secret.
CHANG: Oh, totally. Who doesn't want to be in on a big secret? But wait, you told us that what that first guy claimed was not true. How do you know?
VENKAT: That's right. So I wasn't sure at first. It's a compelling video. You know, it got me. So that's why I called up Derek Guy. He's been a fashion writer for 15 years, and he posted a couple of threads, debunking these claims. He says that the bags the man was selling might be great quality, but they're definitely not Hermes. That video raised some red flags for a few different reasons.
DEREK GUY: He wouldn't discuss the stitching or the work that goes into it. That seems strange. He wouldn't emphasize the craftsmanship. The price was wrong. The price of the components were wrong. And also the thing that he named was - that was togo leather in the video was not actually togo leather.
VENKAT: He told me that it has gotten really hard to detect fakes now because they've just gotten better. A lot of goods have gotten simpler.
GUY: If someone gets a Balenciaga T-shirt, I don't know if it came from the original factory, and even if it didn't, it's not that hard to duplicate because it's just a very simple item. If you fold a piece of paper once over, yeah, like, that's pretty easy to duplicate. But if someone folds it into this, like, really complicated origami, like Hermes does, then it will be harder for someone to duplicate that.
CHANG: OK, so, yeah, there may be lots of high-quality knockoffs out there for all kinds of stuff but not for complicated Hermes bags.
VENKAT: That's right. Derek Guy says everyone everywhere is always trying to sell you stuff. So it's on us as consumers to have a critical eye.
GUY: There are many, many companies, including in China, that make quality goods that may advertise on social media platforms, but not everybody is telling the truth. Evaluate whether this is something that is actually worth purchasing.
VENKAT: And that's 'cause - as you know, Ailsa, the idea of a good deal can be very, very tempting (laughter).
CHANG: But sometimes too good to be true, right?
VENKAT: Yep.
CHANG: NPR's Mia Venkat with this week's main character - you are so awesome, Mia. Thank you so much.
VENKAT: You're welcome, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
