High-end brands should “lean in” and embrace the #dupe subculture, which thrives on recommending duplicates or cheaper alternatives to luxury products, social media experts advise.
Duplicates, counterfeits and brand copycats are nothing new: the first wave of beauty YouTubers highlighted cheaper products back in 2010. But in the past, the purchase of imitations was usually done with the aim of passing off the product as genuine.
The difference now is that buying #dupe is no longer the same as cheating or being cheated. With the rapid rise of shareable short video platforms, fakes have become fashionable, and Generation Z is openly finding and flaunting their impostors.
“The rise of dupe culture signals a generational shift in how we consume goods and media,” said Jennifer Baker, head of growth marketing at Grin, a creator management platform.
“Previous generations may have secretly purchased knockoffs, but Generation Z has not only normalized buying knockoffs or generic products, they have made the #Dupe movement one of the most searched terms on social media.”
The change is so profound that research shows that even if many people in Generation Z or Millennials can afford to buy a genuine designer item, they still choose a duplicate: almost a third of adults in the US said they have intentionally purchased a duplicate of a premium or luxury product, with at least 11% of UK consumers buying a counterfeit product at least every few months.
Half say they buy duplicates to save money, while 17% say duplicates are a great alternative even if they can afford the original.
Insiders say scam culture is likely to become a permanent part of young shoppers’ habits, with “scam discourse” permeating every online medium, from YouTube and Instagram to digital magazine listings and blogs.
The most frequently tagged items are items that appeal to younger women – the internet’s heaviest users – including clothing brands Lululemon Leggings, Skims Shapewear, Bottega Veneta, Ugg, Charlotte Tilbury Foundation, Adidas Sambas, Dior, Olaplex and Dyson.
The trend is so popular that TikTok videos with the hashtag #dupe have garnered nearly 6 billion views so far. Playful variations on the phrase like #doop or #doupe account for hundreds of millions more: Type “I found the perfect scammer” into TikTok and watch hundreds of thousands of videos pop up.
What makes a scammer ranges from genuine fakes to advice on how to find cheaper versions of high-end products. In some cases, scams are openly produced by retailers looking to undercut their competitors – discount supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl are known for their knock-offs of own-brand products.
Stevie Johnson, managing director of influencer marketing agency Disrupt, warned of a problem when larger brands start deceiving smaller, independent brands. “But as long as the legal consequences are followed, I don’t see too many downsides from fraud,” he said.
Duplicates are sometimes created by third-party manufacturers and sold on online platforms such as Amazon. These products can be openly marketed as dupes – but in other cases, influencers find them and highlight them on their platforms as “perfect dupes.”
Influencers also fall into different camps: those who work in a paid capacity for brands and YouTubers – who are required to use the #ad hashtag prominently – and those for whom recommending dupes is an unpaid part of their online identity .
For Gen Z, experts say the dupe discourse is less about curating authentic designer goods and more about consuming authentic social content to achieve the same look for less money.
However, since counterfeit products are often made by unknown brands, manufacturer recommendations are more important than ever in determining the difference between an affordable replacement and a cheap gimmick.
That’s why, according to a consumer communications lead at TikTok, a good dupe recommendation can make a TikToker an overnight sensation.
“If a YouTuber or influencer finds a cheaper product that everyone else wants to buy, they can rise into the stratosphere overnight,” they said.
But wherever the scammer comes from, experts say companies should see it as an opportunity to strengthen their brand and refresh their cultural relevance.
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“Brands don’t have to worry about their reputation being tarnished because everything is so open,” said Sophie Hardie, client director at influencer marketing firm The Goat Agency.
“Instead of fighting fraudsters, high-end brands should use fraudsters to engage with popular culture in a lighthearted way. They should engage directly – and authentically – to attract new people and show confidence in the strength of their brand,” she added.
Johnson agreed and advised larger brands to become more playful. “Brands need to do a little more with it,” he said. “If they do this, they can attract new customers who may not have come to them initially without the attention the scammer attracted.”
Ellyn Briggs, a brand analyst for the US technology research group Morning Consult, found in research that being cheated on actually has benefits for the cheated: About two-thirds of adults in the US say they use positive words like associate “fashionable”. , “trendy” and “elite” with often deceived brands.
“This means that a scammer’s well-known presence is effectively a consumer stamp of approval that businesses should rely on — especially given that a large majority of U.S. adults view scams as a minor problem, if at all,” Briggs said.
Last year, sportswear company Lululemon did just that. The $50 billion luxury company pulled off a marketing ploy by offering fans in Los Angeles who bought a Lululemon replica of its popular Align tights for $98 the chance to exchange them in-store for the original .
The “dupe swap” came after a post by TikTok user Ariana Vitale about Lululemon dupes received more than 955,000 views – leading to the generic hashtag #lululemondupes gaining more than 150 million views.
“It felt like a really fun way to jump into a cultural conversation,” said Nikki Neuburger, Lululemon’s chief brand officer. “One reason we had complete confidence is because we truly know our products are the best; And when you try them, we felt like people would have this sensory aha moment.”
The gamble worked: According to Lululemon, 50% of the 1,000-plus people who came to the swap were new customers — and half of them were under 30. The response far exceeded Neuburger’s expectations: Her team is now considering expanding the swap idea to other events in others markets.
Olaplex is another luxury brand that has fully embraced the dupe discourse, generating millions of views and online conversations in just a few weeks.
Olaplex launched its latest hair care product last September — while also sponsoring TikTok influencers to cheer on an Olaplex dupe under the name Oladupé.
However, when clicking on the influencers link, people were redirected to the official Olaplex page and were told that it was not a scam because nothing can be as good as the real thing.