Kendall and Kylie Jenner reportedly promoted knock-off Apple AirPods on Instagram. The Jenner sisters are among dozens of influencers who seemed to have promoted fake AirPods and Apple Watches on their social media. The sisters have 322 million followers on Instagram, combined. Though Apple has stated that cloned earphones infringe its intellectual property rights, the company will not be pursuing legal action against the sisters.
The national coordinator for the UK's National Trading Standards eCrime team said that if influencers were found to be promoting knock-off products, they would first be informed of consumer laws, but if they resume doing promotions for the same, "formal action" would be considered. The vendors behind the products are usually called drop-shippers who essentially act as an intermediary; they have no direct relation to the products they sell but invest in the promotions, often recruiting influencers to promote them. Drop shippers usually source their products from online marketplaces and have them sent directly to consumers.
This is hardly the first time the Kardashian-Jenners have been in hot waters over their online endorsements. Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian and Kylie, especially have often received backlash for promoting weight loss supplements. A few weeks back, Kylie took to Instagram to promote sleep vitamins, when she was slammed by her fans who claimed that the vitamin-induced gummies do not work, and alleged that Kylie herself does not use them.
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