TOW 14 (Visual Text)- "Are These Bags Real or Fake?" CNBC Video

In the United States alone, the black market is a hundred billion dollar market. Among the most popular and profitable items sold in the black market, are women’s handbags. Each year thousands of counterfeit bags are illegally brought into the United States and sold in major cities, with New York at the center of the counterfeit world. Many people are attracted to buying counterfeit bags for their low prices, or are unaware that what they bought is not real. Usually designer bags many by Louis Vuitton and Gucci cost upwards of $1000, but in the black market similar bags can be found for as low as $300. This growing problem of counterfeit products has a major effect on the economy and the well being of people around the world. As a result, designer companies lose millions of dollars annually, which causes their stock to plummet. Also, it has been found that counterfeit products sold in the black market have been used to fund global terrorist organizations.

The overall purpose of this video is clear, to teach people how to recognize counterfeit products and to persuade buys to refrain from buying such products on the black market. The primary audience is not only consumers, but also the makers of counterfeit products because designer companies are funding heightened investigations in order to minimize the affect of the black market. CNBC effectively communicates this purpose to the intended audience by using statistics and undercover video.

By first citing multiple statistics, CNBC is able to really show the audience how large and profitable the counterfeit handbag market has become compared to that of designer companies such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci. In addition, CNBC effectively convince buyers of counterfeit products to think twice by including statistics that prove the black market supports child labor and terrorist activities across the world.

Finally, the video effectively convinces the audience because it includes anecdotes and visual evidence given to CNBC by a private investigator that went undercover into stores selling counterfeit products. Using a hidden camera, the investigator who was hired by designer companies, goes inside a women’s apartment located in New York City, where he found rooms packed full of counterfeit bags. Along the way, he noted the intricate and secretive process used by gangs and organizations to get their products to consumers and avoid any confrontations with law enforcements. Overall, it gave real world evidence and information that proved the black market is a major threat to the United States, countries across the world, and legitimate designer companies that now have to compete with counterfeit goods.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000185807