Strange But True . . . Gucci warns Chinese: you can’t take it with you

LUXURY fashion brand Gucci has warned Hong Kong shops selling paper handbags and other goods as offerings for the dead not to market items resembling its products.

It is a tradition for Hong Kong families to buy and burn paper replicas of all the things their deceased loved ones could ever want in the afterlife.

Speciality stores have stocked everything from paper false teeth, iPads and shirts to chauffeur-driven cars, mansions and wads of fake cash. But it was the replica bags and other products bearing Gucci-like logos and designs that caught the eye of the luxury goods maker.

“In this instance, we fully respect the funeral context and we trust that the store owners did not have the intention to infringe Gucci’s trademark,” the company said. “Thus a letter was sent on an informational basis . . . asking them to stop selling those items.”

Owners of the paper replica shops seemed unfazed by the warning.

“These items are not used by living people, it’s just to commemorate ancestors,” said To Chin-sung, the manager of a paper goods shop.

“It’s not an exact copy, they just think it looks very similar,” he said.

“If [Gucci] sends us a letter, we’ll respond jokingly by saying perhaps we can help send the letter to the netherworld, and see how it’s received there,” said To. — AFP