A cursory glance at this street in Wuxi, China would give the impression of a booming downtown marketplace that runneth over with only the hottest international brands. Look a little closer, and you’ll notice that some of the spellings are a bit — er, off. Look even closer than that, and you’ll realise that this bizarro strip mall is even more off-kilter than you could have ever known — all of the buildings’ interiors are totally bone-bare.
The southern Chinese city street sprouted these lively, not-quite-familiar storefronts recently as a means of attracting buyers (the entire street property is currently for sale). While the nonsensicality of the misspelled brands — which include H&N, Appla, Sffcccks Coffee and Zare — varies, all of the fake stores feature fonts and designs nearly identical to their original counterparts. And as Zhao Jia, a local lawyer, told Sohu.com:
The real estate operators in charge are engaging in misleading behaviour and should stop this infringement.
The facades “designed to create a shopping atmosphere” have prompted many in surrounding areas to start calling the absurd collection the “street of fakes”. And while intellectual property theft is a valid concern, anyone familiar with this Twilight Zone episode knows that copyright law is the least of their troubles. Spoiler: It doesn’t end well. [South China News via Racked.com]