pleaz halp - CREED fakes are getting BRILLIANT

Look at this image!

ESPECIALLY IF YOU SPEAK FRENCH OR OWN AN AUTHENTIC CREED




I stole this image from another thread here because it serves my purpose, and because my digital camera doesn't hold a charge, I don't know how to connect my dumbphone to the computer, and my iPod touch is a gen 1 without a camera.

I believe I have identified this as a fake.

See, I just bought a bottle of Royal Delight and the packaging is identical to this aside from the size and writing color (mine's gold). It's REALLY good packaging and the bottle, sprayer, and cap seem flawless. Okay, not flawless, as the cap is slightly loose and the back of the bottle seems to have a lot number scraped off, but I think that's part of the ruse.

Anyway, I've been wearing it for 3 days straight and I noticed that the fragrance didn't have the same "ZING!" that I thought it was supposed to have. Well, as luck would have it, I had my old, empty Perfumed Court sample still around (guilty of hoarding), so I compared and CONFIRMED the difference, and it's unacceptable. Look, you can talk about batch variations, reformulations, and "old stock" until you're blue in the face, but differences like this are criminal. In fact, it might even be worse than the difference between vintage and new Anteaus'.
People have claimed that fragrances like Royal Delight (and Original Santal) aren't popular enough to be counterfeited, and, excuse my language, but I say HORSE HOCKEY.

So let's all take a good long look at the pic up top and understand that you don't need to know French to spot the grammatical error. It basically says "Supplier of King A, of Queen B, of King C, and of Queen D, of King E.

The "AND" is placed before the second to last item in the list. Anyone familiar with all Latin based languages knows that this is incorrect, but a native Arab speaker may not know that, and I understand that these fakes are made in the middle east (there is a bit of Arab script on the bottom of the box).
Unless there is something unique about French that I am unaware of, this is a fake. And no, I'm not being paranoid, my nose has been telling me it's a fake for a few days.

Of course, I could be completely wrong about this, but I really don't think I am, and believe me, I REALLY want to be in denial, or at least my wallet really wants me to be in denial.

Yes, and good job reading my post. Cellophane can be added later to give a more authentic look as Shiny Beast said. This is about the grammar of the French at the top of the box. I am an English speaker with a fair grasp of my language, but I would like either a French speaker, OR a Creed owner to verify that what I suspect is correct.

It basically says "Supplier of King A, of Queen B, of King C, and of Queen D, of King E.

You don't have to speak French to read the mess on the top of the box. Just know that "de" means "of" and "et" means "and"

I'm out of my element here, but I suspect the days of GREEN FRICH TWEED are over and in order to spot a fake you have to be freaking Colombo

Ah ha, but there's the rub. It doesn't smell legit. The stock answer in these situations is usually, "batch variation, reformulation, or old stock." Although let's be honest, the "old stock" answer is nonsensical because I have 5 vintage fragrances (maybe more) which I hunted down from the 80s and early 90s, some of which came from the warm and sunny middle east, and they're all stunningly beautiful. This leaves us with reformulations and batch variations, and it is true that bottles and packaging do change in these situations, but to have a brutal French grammatical error on a product manufactured in France is seriously suspect, especially when spelling and grammar are the first things people tell you to look for when attempting to ascertain fakes in the fashion industry (Coach, Prada, Gucci).

So the question is: does Creed feel that, "aw, fuck it," is the proper attitude for a fragrance with an MSRP of $250 USD?

And the other question is: what is the US government hiding at area 51?

Critical thinking. I like it. Shit still don't smell right.

I was hoping it was fake because I was going to traipse on down the the Neiman Marcus in the ghetto (New York is stupid, don't ask) and grab me a real one. Buy now everyone has confirmed the horrid reality that I cannot get a good bottle of Royal Delight, PERIOD.

woe is me

No thank you, good sir. It was just the top that I felt was absolutely identical to my box, down to the font used, and I suspected that there was a grammatical error. I'm still suspicious about it and may contact a French ex (oh dear God and Jesus no) whom could absolutely help, but even then I wouldn't be positive.

Also, there is NO lot # on the box AND the lot # on the bottle just seems wrong. It's barely legible and the first characters might be "F," which, as we all know, would not be correct for an actual Creed. Also, I have a genuine Original Vetiver and the lot # is ENGRAVED. Good luck getting that thing filed off without annihilating the bottle's appearance. And another thing, the lot # is not on the bottom lip, but just above it and to the right. That also doesn't agree with what my OV tells me.

Okay, I don't really want to waste any more of you good peoples' time with this. I'll tell you what. One day this week I'll pop in to Neiman's on the home and do some smelling. My nose will know the answer. If what there I smell resembles what purchased, then I will capitulate and declare myself an ass. However, if what I smell resembles my old Perfumed Court sample then I shall buy a bottle and come back to the thread to do the "I told you so" dance.

True enough, and I always thought people were crazy and/or paranoid, but then it happened to me.

So either there is a rampant proliferation of fake Creeds out there, or, option B, Creed has pathetic quality control and have no problem putting out sub-par fragrances due to batch variations or reformulations. I have sampled most Creed fragrances from official sources, and even when I don't really like them I can usually respect their composition. This last bottle that I purchased not only doesn't smell like it should, but I can't even respect the composition. It's like Green Day trying to cover The Toys of Men, and I feel that only people that truly enjoy the art form would even notice.

The thread is moot anyway. I'll eventually get to Neiman's to decide whether Creed is dead to me, or if the online discounters' Creeds are dead to me.

I'll also be sure to post my results.

Oh believe you me, I've gone back and forth over the logic of my argument, and I know damn well that it doesn't make much sense, but my nose is an uppity, confrontational asshole.

The way I see it, the only way my argument could hold water is if there is a MASSIVE counterfeiting organization out there that operates with complete disregard for western copyright law and without legal oversight whatsoever. This isn't really that far-fetched as there are many bootleg video games and electronics created and distributed in Asia, and they never really see the light of day here because of technological and linguistic incompatibilities, and a bootleg iPod is WAAAAAYYYY more difficult to reverse engineer and assemble.

Now, consider fragrance and its universal appeal AND universal packaging. Your market is global, and your markup is absurd because all you really need to do is undercut Creed's MSRP by half, which still leaves you able to sell a dollar-cost product for $70 wholesale. There is no electronics or complex engineering involved, so just about every dime is profit and customers will be drawn to your version like flies to shit because they think they're getting a "deal."


I gotta go, Jesse "The Body" Ventura and I are going to blow the lid off of HAARP

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I know, and I don't have many Creeds because of this issue and I really didn't plan on getting any others except for Royal Delight because it's so damn bizarre. But I also wonder if all of the "Creed issues" are coming from people who circumvented the excessive cost of Authorized Retail Creeds (like I just did). If you have a "Creed issue," and you didn't get it at an Authorized Creed Dealer, then it doesn't matter how much you jump up and down swearing its real, your argument cannot be entered into the evidence.

On the other hand, if people start walking out of the Creed Boutique complaining about how their Creed just doesn't smell right and doesn't last long, well then, we have harder evidence that Creed has quality control issues.

Nothing funnier than the googly eyed look followed by an, "excuse me miss, but I couldn't help notice..."

My only other detective reference would be McNulty, but nobody would know him because at the time everyone was obsessed with the overrated Sopranos.

Wait no, I forgot about Monk. Let's turn this into a detective thread, yay!

That was a theme of Philip K. Dick's in The Man in the High Castle, and also Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, though TMITHC was very deliberate in applying it to the collectors of fine things.


Anyway, I was finally able to read the lot # off of the back of the bottle. It took a high powered flashlight AND a magnifying glass, but...

FP5509B01

Royal Delight

2.5 oz

Let's analyse this. Now the "FP" opening is not unheard of on a lot #, but it's very rare and the general consensus is that it's supposed to be the lot # for Flacons, which this is not. Perhaps the opening letter, or letters, is a regional destination code instead. The openings that I've read about are A, C, S, and FP

55 - is the code for Royal Delight

09 - is most likely the year it was made

B - is a completely unknown variable at this point

01 - would be the quarter of the year in which it was made, as this number is never anything other than 01, 02, 03, or 04


The fact still remains that my Royal Delight doesn't smell right, so I'm still left with the possibilities that Creed has dogshit quality control OR the fakers have at least partially decoded the lot #s


I'm currently on vacation because it's the end of the year and I had days I needed to use, and this is EXACTLY how I wanted to spend it. I fucking hate myself.

Anyway, I know I should be at Neiman's right now. It isn't even that far away at the mall in White Plains, but I hate people and I really hate crowds and it's December.

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Whattaya think I am retarded? No wait, that was politically incorrect, let me start over.

Whattaya think I am, a fat-tongued, water-headed, extra-chromosomed, mongoloid moron?

I bought it from Beautyencounter, and it's really looking like it's authentic and Creed just sucks hot ass.

This whole situation is really getting under my skin, can you tell?