In Italian product culture, authenticity is not a marketing buzzword—it is a moral standard. A product should be what it claims to be: made from the materials it says, produced where it says, by the methods its identity implies. A product that misrepresents itself—that fakes its materials, imitates another product’s identity, or claims origins it does not have—is not just inferior, it is dishonest.
This moral dimension explains the intensity of Italy’s anti-counterfeiting enforcement and its elaborate legal frameworks protecting product identity. It also explains why “genuino” is such high praise and why counterfeiting provokes genuine cultural anger, not just commercial concern. The maker’s name and the product’s claimed identity are commitments, and honoring those commitments is a matter of integrity.
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