How could CrimeStoppers International show the world that buying fake goods has real consequences?

We had many stats, figures and zero money, but we wanted to give shape to an amorphous problem. So we created the Illegal Empire: a theoretical nation-state whose GDP (the total spent on fake goods worldwide) ranks 4th globally against other nations.

The Illegal Empire is composed of drug smugglers, sex traffickers, and other very, very bad people around the globe who get stronger and more dangerous every time you buy fake goods.

Don’t want to support the Illegal Empire? It's simple. Don’t buy that fake watch.

We sent Illegal Empire boxes to influencers to kick-start the campaign. The boxes contained the head of a toy rabbit and instructions to scan a QR code to watch a film.
 The soft toy is the same rabbit a young girl holds in the film.

The box contained many Illegal Empire-branded elements, including stamps, a QR code, and packaging material from shredded articles from the Stop the Illegal Empire hub.

The Illegal Empire even sparked a podcast that explores the links between fake goods, illegal trade, terrorism, human trafficking, and the sex trade.

Join Shane Britten as he goes behind the veil of organized crime as he interviews key experts on global terrorism, experienced law enforcement officers and many more.