Summary Of The Fake Trade By Dana Thomas

In the essay, “The Fake Trade,” Dana Thomas makes a direct statement, “Most important, we need to spread the word on the devastating effects counterfeiting has on society today.” She also goes on to say, “But the reality is that we’re all victims of counterfeiting, whether from the loss of jobs or of tax revenue that could fund our schools and our roads…” Since this is her belief her purpose is to inform readers about counterfeit goods. She gives many statistics on how bad counterfeiting goods can be. “Since 1982, the global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods has grown from an estimated $5.5 billion to approximately $600 billion annually.” She continues to give a few examples of counterfeit goods. “The Food and Drug Administration has
said that counterfeit medicine could account for upwards of 10 percent of all drugs worldwide.”
Even though her audience would be shoppers, she narrows it down to shoppers that are uninformed about the devastating effects of buying counterfeit items. She states, “two-thirds of UK consumers are proud to tell their family and friends that they bought fake luxury.” Also stated is, “According to a 2003 survey carried out by Market and Opinion Research International in Great Britain, around a third of those questioned would consider buying counterfeits.” These statements reinforce that she believes many shoppers are negligently purchasing counterfeit items. She is trying to persuade readers that buying counterfeit items is not good for our economy. This rhetorical strategy emphasizes how important not buying these items is to our economy. She also used causal analysis to explain the effects of counterfeiting goods. The organization she used was to state a cause and an effect. She didn’t build up to a strong conclusion; she wanted to get her point across right away in the reading. This makes the reading much more interesting and keeps you informed to the many effects of buying or even being a part of counterfeit goods. Her language and/or tone is very informative and straight forward. She stayed harsh in her writing to get her point across. “I didn’t tell the girl in Mill Valley that her bag was fake. It wasn’t her fault her family had given it to her. But if I had met her parents, I would have said something.”