Buyer Beware: UGG® Australia Educates and Offers Tips to Protect Consumers from Buying Counterfeit this Holiday Season

NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Heading into the holiday season, and the busiest shopping days of the year, UGG® Australia, a division of Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NASDAQGS: DECK) is committed to educating and protecting consumers from counterfeit UGG products that are being sold as authentic, and ensuring they are only buying at authorized retailers.

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A counterfeit product is a fake or imitation made with the goal of tricking you into believing it is genuine.

"Counterfeiting remains a growing global problem – not only for companies, but also consumers," said Angel Martinez, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Deckers Outdoor Corporation. "Online or off, we want consumers to shop for UGG products with confidence. That's why we remain committed to fighting this issue while continuing to raise awareness and educate consumers."

Any consumer who has shopped online for UGG boots, shoes or accessories may have already been exposed to the thousands of counterfeit UGG websites advertising fake UGG products. These sites are intentionally trying to deceive shoppers into buying UGG counterfeit products. Often, these sites will advertise "uggs on sale", "cheap uggs", or "discount uggs". Counterfeiters frequently use email blasts and flash sales as ways of drawing consumers to their sites as well. Offline, counterfeiters often host tables at flea markets in hopes of duping unsuspecting customers into purchasing fake UGG products. These products may look real, and it can be difficult to detect a fake UGG boot, shoe or accessory. This is particularly true online where counterfeiters use UGG brand images, and typically the name UGG appears in the domain.

To protect consumers who are shopping for gifts both in-store and online this holiday season, UGG® Australia offers the following tips to keep in mind:

• Look For Authenticity:
  • UGG Classic product is made with Grade A twin-faced sheepskin (it is one piece)
  • Counterfeit outsoles are stiff and difficult to flex or bend - UGG boots bend with ease
  • Hang tags are not used on Classic products – if you see a hang tag, it's a fake
• Buy Only From Trusted Online Retailers: If you aren't shopping our site or an authorized retailer, you are being fooled into buying fake product.

Buying counterfeit products has a significant impact on the global economy, eliminating tens of thousands of jobs with legitimate businesses and costing the worldwide economy an estimated $600 billion of revenue a year. Deckers' anti-counterfeiting efforts are part of a robust initiative that includes hundreds of raids and customs seizures around the world. More than 834,000 counterfeit UGG products and three million counterfeit components were seized worldwide in 2011.

About UGG® Australia: UGG® Australia has built a reputation on luxury and comfort by using only the finest materials in the world, employing the highest standards of craftsmanship and delivering new and innovative styles well beyond the original sheepskin boots. UGG Australia is recognized as a premium lifestyle brand that houses footwear, apparel, outerwear, accessories and handbags.

UGG Australia now offers the ultimate brand experience to all with over 40 stores worldwide including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing and Moscow

About Deckers Outdoor Corporation
Deckers Outdoor Corporation is a premier lifestyle marketer that builds niche brands into global market leaders by designing and marketing innovative, functional and fashion-oriented footwear developed for both high performance outdoor activities and everyday casual lifestyle use. Teva®, Sanuk®, UGG® Australia, TSUBO®, Ahnu® and MOZO® are registered trademarks of Deckers Outdoor Corporation.

SOURCE Deckers Outdoor Corporation