Two Chinese entrepreneurs came up with a brilliant business idea: they bought regular old no-name condoms from a factory in one province, and bought packaging material with the globally recognized brand name of Durex, as well as Russian name brand Contex and China’s own brand Jissbon. When all of these big brand condoms started hitting the market at cut-rate prices, the authorities noticed, as the authorities tend to do.

Since all they had to do was take existing condoms and put them in existing wrappers, the tiny workshop was very efficient. They were able to crank out 20,000 pieces a day from their debut in December of last year until they and other condom-repackaging operations were shut down in late March.

Remember, if anyone offers you a great deal on a case of brand-name anything, there’s probably a reason why. Run away. Even though the China Daily headline says “fake-condom factory,” it sounds like the condoms themselves worked just fine: the problem was that they weren’t from the brands advertised on the packages.

Fake-condom factory busted in Fujian [China Daily] (via Businessweek)

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