# Counterfeit Mini's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925 "2005-05-01T03:53:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/1 "2005-05-01T03:53:42Z")
[http://counterfeitmini.org](http://counterfeitmini.org) Anybody get the DVD? I’m worried that if I order it, I’ll get a counterfeit DVD. The material looks solid though. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/2 "2005-05-01T06:26:14Z")
I have to admit that I am intrigued by the commercial. What do you suppose they have in mind for the arc, if any? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/3 "2005-05-01T13:35:40Z")
Useful advice from that site: > [@](#): > > Before buying a MINI, always test drive it. A genuine one is low to the ground with an aggressive, bulldog stance. This makes it handle a lot like an oversized go-kart. If it corners like a humongous four-door sedan, step back and verify it is not actually a humongous four-door sedan. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/4 "2005-05-01T15:04:46Z")
As a British car fanatic, I’d like to see the DVD. But: [ul][li]Buying the DVD means I’d be paying for a commercial;[/li][li]The BMW Mini is not made by a British car company.[/ul][/li] Still, if someone _else_ had it, I wouldn’t mind borrowing it. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/5 "2005-05-01T17:46:03Z")
Is this commerical supposed to be advertising Mini’s? If it is, it’s one of the strangest ad campaign I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/6 "2005-05-01T18:00:11Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Is this commerical supposed to be advertising Mini’s? If it is, it’s one of the strangest ad campaign I’ve ever seen. Not at all. The message is that New Minis are so incredibly hip, that people want to counterfeit them. The weird part is that they want you to _buy_ more advertising in the form of a DVD. I’m guessing the DVD is probably pretty funny, but it’s still an ad. I would give out the DVDs free to people who test-drove a New Mini. This would pull more people into the showrooms, which is where you want them to be. The salesperson will typically try very hard to get people into a car. (They’ll drive you off the lot – ‘insurance reasons’ – and then pull over someplace and hand you the keys. They’ll positively-reenforce ‘ownership’ by calling it ‘your car’. They might park their Shiny New Car next to your Old POS. And so forth.) I think people might be more willing to take a test drive if they ‘get something free’, so I think the DVDs should be distributed that way instead of selling them. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/7 "2005-05-01T18:13:05Z")
I don’t think the Mini Cooper corporation is in any way associated with [counterfeitmini.org](http://counterfeitmini.org). If they are, I missed that somewhere. It surely is an ad for Mini Coopers though. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/8 "2005-05-01T19:21:09Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > I don’t think the Mini Cooper corporation is in any way associated with [counterfeitmini.org](http://counterfeitmini.org). If they are, I missed that somewhere. It surely is an ad for Mini Coopers though. [It’s the MINI USA ad agency](http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/02/14/counterfeit_minis_and_the_ccc) that’s responsible for the tv commercials and web site. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/9 "2005-05-01T19:22:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > [It’s the MINI USA ad agency](http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/02/14/counterfeit_minis_and_the_ccc) that’s responsible for the tv commercials and web site. Sorry. That should be MINIUSA’s ad agency. Their real website is at [http://www.miniusa.com](http://www.miniusa.com). Notice it links to the counterfeit Mini website. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-minis/301925/10 "2005-05-01T20:21:54Z")
Thanks for the info. It puts things into perspective.