Anime Piracy on a STICK OF GUM?!?!

danielwang · Post by **danielwang** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:40 am

Here's the rub:

I've acquired a pack of chewing gum from the locla Korean/Japanese supermarket I frequent (KOMART, but Pacific Ocean is better).

The actual gum is definitely genuine, it has a LOTTE wrapper, and being familiar with this brand (better than wrigley's you bet) I know that they use a specially printed gum wrapper. It's embossed, like a notary stamp, with "LOTTE" and "Please recycle this stuff" in Korean.

But the Gum's not the problem.

Thw actual foil wrapper itself is amateurishly printed, sealed with a waxy surface and a impule band (not impule shrinkwrap like real Lotte) and features OMG PIRACY? a character from Beyblade v2. Oh, and a copyright itty bitty.

I'll have pics up soon... the gum inside is wrapped around by sticker sleeve. It's not cheaply printed, has a tracking target (black positioning bar, plus crosshair and colourbar) and itty bitty copyright. The sticker is printed along with the entire wrapper, the typical LOTTE brandface is pushed out while the Beyblade v2 ("V Force") logo and one character is on each gumsleeve.

Overall, quality looks like it's a silkscreened compressed JPEG on nice glossy paper. But the JPEG-look is no problem, I got a few Gohouden promotional materials from the creator himself at a conference, professionally screened but still with some artifacts (anti-aliasing ALERT!). But with all of the other features, I'm suspicious.

Is anime piracy happening to our chewing gun (and crisps)?

J-0080 · Post by **J-0080** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:43 am

/flames

danielwang · Post by **danielwang** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 1:07 am

Authorized Reseller!
Bonus card system they just installed

They can't counterfeit the gum... yet
High security gum wrappers have eliminated candy counterfeits!

Beyblade!!! Let it Rip ...off?
Children love piracy, especially when it markets itself in fruity flavours

Stickers. Too bad they aren't cut.
Dont be fooled - despite the border they peel ALL the way off
The border around the character is not a removed segment - it's clear area.

You vote:
Fake or not?

Jonathan02us · Post by **Jonathan02us** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 1:07 am

.. no ..

azulmagia · Post by **azulmagia** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 2:33 am

Probably not fake, just Korean. However, you omitted the most vital bit of information - whether the product tasted any good or not! If it really sucks, I suggest you submit it to http://www.bad-candy.com/

)v(ajin Koji · Post by **)v(ajin Koji** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 10:00 am

/sigh

no one cares...least of all me....

DJ_Izumi · Post by **DJ_Izumi** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:09 pm

He's bitching about bubble gum? -.-;;;

Karou_ken · Post by **Karou_ken** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 3:51 pm

)v(ajin Koji wrote:/sigh

no one cares...least of all me....

Agreed.

Jonathan02us · Post by **Jonathan02us** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 3:52 pm

DJ_Izumi wrote:He's bitching about bubble gum? -.-;;;

Yeah i kno ... but oh well wat can we do ... besides not post anything ...

J-0080 · Post by **J-0080** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 4:14 pm

J-0080 wrote:/flames