Fake Dr. Dre Beats

The Monster manufactured Dr. Dre Beats headphones seem to be the craze in Malaysia... but for the wrong reasons. I was in Times Square yesterday and I noticed that these headphones were being sold for RM30-50 for a pair(with various colors). Yes, they are the counterfeit ones. I took a look at one of the demo units, looks authentic and the build quality looks solid. Much like my sis's earphones her friend bought for her birthday last year.

(My sis got a Beats Tour for her birthday last year from the friends. The box and everything looks ori for the most parts but once you start listening to music on it... it literally shits music into you ears. It's horrible making me think of the present her friends bought her is a knock of... which I still think it is since it is now rotting in one of her drawers after the earpiece broke off)

So there I was helping my mom getting a new screen protector for her new iPhone4S and I noticed this middle-aged looking lady trying out the headphones. At the end of the day she bought it. I thought,
"Hmmmm maybe she's getting it for her son/daughter.... boy would they be disappointed"
Then another guy came over and took a look at them. He tried it on and even plugged the demo unit into his mp3 player. I thought he'd realize that it would sound horrible... he bought one for himself. How could this guy who seem to know about headphones and music quality to test the headphones on the spot succumb to buying it???

I then recalled in lowyat.net forums that someone was selling off fake beats headphones. I don't remember how much it costs but it was definitely more than RM30-50. People were bidding for it, people were shunning it and saying that you should buy the original. What struck me was when the seller said something along these lines,
"People buy it mostly for the looks and fashion. This would be a good fashion accessory."

Much like how Skullcandy's are in the US (used for fashion IMO), these fake beats are being sold for most probably the same reason. An original beats in Malaysia from what I can remember costs about RM1.5k-3k which is way more than what Americans pay for a pair of overpriced sub-par headphones (USD200-500). It seems to be an Asian thing. A privilege. I would say the same people that buys these are probably the same ones who buys iPhones/iPads and are Apple crazy based on my observations.

So what can be done? Nothing. Since the companies that actually sell better headphones don't get the recognition among the masses because they did not invest much into their advertising as compared to Apple and Monster (i H.A.T.E. Monster brand). Enough to cause majority of the Asian/Malaysian market to buy/crave to own an iPhone/iPad and to buy Monster Beats headphones based on Monster's advertisements even though they're fakes.