The Chinese toilets “Labu” swept all over the planet … and led, in their path, the inevitable falsifications. Made by the Chinese Pop Toys Mart, these small furry animals with half average lampa have seen their popularity explode for several months, driven by social networks where videos of “advocates” are sold (unpacking, in French) swarm in which these animals are stuffed strangely smiling.
Tens of thousands of false stuffed animals were seized during the summer, the customs said in a statement on Monday, which led 70,000 falsified items in total during their various checks. The seizures took place for four separate operations in France extended from July 30 to August 20. On July 31, 25,000 stuffed animals “that seem to falsify the Labu brand” that were seized by customs in a truck in Great Britain. The next day, Mulhouse customs officials carried out a similar operation and discovered almost 20,000 false teddy animals in a truck that connected Spain to Poland.
Available online but also in markets and stores
In front of the frenzy, obtaining a luxurious is today a feat, which requires waiting for several hours in a tail at the entrance of an official Pop store Mart or reacting to a room when an action is online.
Without being able to buy real stuffed animals, many followers resort to their imitations of more or less good quality, nicknamed “lafufus” on social networks and are sold at a lower price. If they swarm on electronic commerce platforms, the falsifications of these small two -ears characters also thrive in the markets and stores. And many Internet users openly show their “lafufus” purchases on social networks, as CNN was observed. According to customs, the bathrooms entered included spelling errors, Pop Mart, for example, has become “dead pap.”
Dangerous products
The Pop Martriz Company Mart tries to stop the increase in falsifications. The Chinese group has presented the “Labu” brand in the United States since 2019 and at least since 2016 internationally according to CNN, which cites legal documents of the company. Anxious to defend his lucrative license, Pop Mart recently pursued the Upretch 7-Eleven and half dozen chain of his stores in California, accusing them of having sold “LaFufus”, according to The Washington Post.
While a good part of them are manufactured in the Chinese territory, China leads to a severe fight against the imitations of teddy animals Labu, multiplying the seized by customs. The Shanghai police dismantled a criminal network last July that manufactured and demanded “LaFufus” falsification. The search for a warehouse led to the arrest of eight people and the entrance of 5,000 toys worth 12 million yuan (1.43 million euros).
Beyond intellectual property, “Lafufus” are often dangerous for their buyers. In the United States, the American Commission for the Security of Consumer Products (CPSC) this month issued an “urgent warning” to US consumers with respect to these false teddy animals, warning against “a serious risk of suffocation and death for young children” and asking to use them immediately. These imitations “are dangerous, illegal and do not have their place in American homes,” said the CPSC.
Keychain false
On the other side of the Atlantic, False Labu Keychain was subject to a recovery procedure in early August in France, reports the new Republic. These products, which were marketed at the beginning of summer in an Indre supermarket, have a removable metal ring that “to be ingested by a small child,” warns the consumer of the public retirement site.
In the Department of VAR, hundreds of Labu products were withdrawn from the sale after the seizures led by the Department of Population Protection (DDPP), whose inspectors have carried out a large control operation since the beginning of the summer, reports France Bleu. Registered stuffed animals will be analyzed in the laboratory and, if falsification is confirmed, “administrative investigation could change to a judicial investigation,” specifies the DDPP.
Source: BFM TV
