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Samsung cancels partnership with knock-off Supreme after backlash

Samsung cancels partnership with knock-off Supreme after backlash

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In an update on Chinese social media platform Weibo, Samsung China announced its decision to terminate the partnership with Supreme Italia. The partnership forged last December was called out for Samsung's association with a copycat brand.The copycat brand Supreme Italia, unfortunately, has no association with popular street wear brand Supreme other than the strikingly similar logo.Samsung had originally intended to create exclusive technology products for Supreme Italia's launch in China. In Mandarin, Samsung's post on Weibo said, "Samsung Electronics had previously mentioned a collaboration with Supreme Italia at the Galaxy A8s China launch event on December 10th, Samsung Electronics has now decided to terminate this collaboration."Since 3 February 2019, the post has garnered 296 comments and 129 shares. Majority of the readers who commented applauded the move and expressed their continued support for the brand.Marketing has reached out to Samsung for comments.Back in December, the real Supreme said in an official statement to street fashion website Hypebeast, “Supreme is not working with Samsung, opening a flagship location in Beijing or participating in a Mercedes-Benz runway show. These claims are blatantly false and propagated by a counterfeit organisation.”According to various media outlets, after being called out for collaborating with a rip-off, Samsung China’s digital marketing manager had clarified that Samsung China was collaborating with “Supreme Italia, not Supreme US”. He also added that Supreme US was not authorised to sell and market its products in China. The post on Weibo has now been taken down.Reportedly, Supreme US had lost a lawsuit against Supreme Italia in Italy, losing its rights to trademark its brand in the European Union because Supreme Italia has already been registered. Despite Supreme's oversight in protecting its intellectual property abroad, netizens were outraged about the collaboration.[caption id="attachment_248084" align="alignnone" width="483"] Comments from an Instagram post on a Supreme fan account.[/caption]Responding to the furor, Samsung China had previously apologised and shared that it would be re-evaluating the deal.

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