New York City – Bob Barchiesi, President of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition announced today the launch of a Global Public Service Ad Campaign joining forces the honorable Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, The New York City Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group and other Anti-Counterfeiting groups in France (Union des Fabricants), Canada (Canadian Intellectual Property Council), and Mexico. The ads will run on June 11th 2009 to coincide with „World AntiCounterfeiting Day.“
The NYC campaign will begin with streaming anti-counterfeiting messages displayed in New York’s Times Square at the Reuters Digital Billboard and NASDAQ. The ads will be in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Mandarin Chinese—designed to reach millions of visitors and tourists. In France, the posters will be shown in all major airports including Charles de Gaulle and in 500 French Customs checkpoints located throughout the country and abroad in Cologne, Bruselles and Madrid. In Mexico, billboards containing the anti-counterfeiting message will be placed at the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, and in front of the Mexican Trademark Office. In Canada, the posters will be placed at an anti-counterfeiting conference accessible by the media; and in Los Angeles, they will be prominently placed at a press conference hosted by Sheriff Lee Baca.
The IACC is trying to get the word out about counterfeiting and the negative effects it has on the economy. IACC President Bob Barchiesi said, „We want to let the consumer know that when you buy counterfeit goods, the societal costs are enormous. Every dollar spent on ‘knockoffs’ feeds an underground economy that does not pay taxes and supports forced child labor, organized crime and the funding of terrorist activities. We urge consumers to ‘get real’, ‘buy real’ and get behind job creation and innovation. Winning the battle against counterfeiting demands a unified front by brand owners around the world, and the resolve of governments to confront this problem at every level.“
„I would like to thank Mayor Bloomberg, The New York City Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, The Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group, Union des Fabricants in France, Canadian Intellectual Property Council in Canada and our member partners in Mexico.“
About the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC)
The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, Inc. (IACC) is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization devoted solely to combating product counterfeiting and piracy. Formed in 1979, today the IACC is comprised of a cross section of business and industry—from autos, apparel, luxury goods, and pharmaceuticals, to food, software and entertainment. The IACC’s members’ combined annual revenues exceed $750 billion. The touchstone of the IACC’s mission is to combat counterfeiting and piracy by promoting laws, regulations and directives designed to render the theft of intellectual property undesirable and unprofitable. For more information, please visit www.iacc.org.
