[RahulNagaraj]

Italian supercar brand, Ferrari, has reportedly started a new "Anti-Counterfeiting Reward Scheme", wherein people can inform the brand of a product being sold that might be infringing on any of Ferrari's trademarks.

The new scheme is said to have been communicated to all owners via email. As per reports, the sale must be happening through a brick-and-mortar place (physical stores) rather than online. People who do identify such items will have to provide even the seller's address to the carmaker.



Ferrari does mention that people who report such products will get a reward. However, the carmaker is very vague about what the reward actually entails. As per reports, Ferrari only promises "a gift item ... while stocks last."

Another caveat is that if the person fails to provide all the info about the seller or if Ferrari has already received a report about the particular seller, the carmaker doesn't have to fulfil its end of the bargain.

Source: TheDrive

Link to Team-BHP news

[omranga98]

You know it is Ferrari when even the reward scheme has bizzare terms & conditions

[click]

This scheme was probably designed by their formula 1 strategy team member.

[voldemort]

I have a feeling enterprising people would manufacture fake parts, collude with somebody else to report them, and share the reward.

Quoting from the Wikipedia article on perverse incentive:

A perverse incentive is an incentive that has an unintended and undesirable result that is contrary to the intentions of its designers.

The term cobra effect was coined by economist Horst Siebert based on an anecdotal occurrence in India during British rule. The British government, concerned about the number of venomous cobras in Delhi, offered a bounty for every dead cobra. Initially, this was a successful strategy; large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually, however, enterprising people began to breed cobras for the income. When the government became aware of this, the reward program was scrapped. When cobra breeders set their now-worthless snakes free, the wild cobra population further increased.

As an aside, is Ferrari still as desirable as it used to be, or is it just me who's getting old?

[Cresterk]

I'm guessing the reward is one of their lame wallets, shirts or watches that is usually sold for a 7000% markup.

[Pennant1970]

Originally Posted by click

This scheme was probably designed by their formula 1 strategy team member.

This was my instant thought on reading the post. It has to be Ferrari F1 if someone comes up with idiotic solutions to nonexistent problems.

On the fake merch/ products front however, I do wish people stop putting Ferrari stickers on Mahindra jeeps or Maruti Altos - or any other car. But then I recall pasting various sizes of the same on our Pennant and Herald in the 1980s. So it's a matter of pot calling the kettle black.

This is best ignored by the company as it's free publicity anyway and those who buy their products are not the intended customers (victims?) of these fakesters.

[click]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

I'm guessing the reward is one of their lame wallets, shirts or watches that is usually sold for a 7000% markup.

It would be hilarious if the reward is a car sticker that says, " I am a Ferrari Snitch". Would be quite a hit in the Italian market.

[am1m]

Ridiculous!

And I'm saying this as a lifelong Tifosi. What the heck do we care if someone counterfeits the brand key chain or whatever. Naturally, if someone is manufacturing fake car parts, that is much more serious and even then that's the company/dealers' problem to sort out, along with law enforcement.

Sadly though, I'm sure there are enough people so desperate to identify with the brand that they'll participate in this harebrained scheme.