Peak Design publicly summoned Amazon for “copying” its $ 80 Everyday Sling Bag with something like $ 21 Amazon Basics, launching its firm accusation at the e-commerce giant with a 1.5-minute video titled “A Tale of Two Slings “.
Peak Design claims that this is not the first time that accusations have been made against the Amazon Basics brand, but Peak Design has decided to take a carefree approach and try to remind buyers that “you get what you pay for”.
Amazon has a history of looking at popular products on its platform and making its own line of cheaper products that look and work almost identically in an attempt to hijack some of those sales. An important example was when Amazon copied the design of shoe maker Allbirds. Allbirds, like Peak Design, have a strong sustainability base that is often overlooked by Amazon Basics branded products.
Joey Zwillinger, co-founder and co-CE of Allbirds, said Fast Company that they were less uncomfortable with copying the design (although they would prefer that they didn’t copy the design), but more with the way Amazon copied the design without copying green supply chain practices.
“As far as I know about manufacturing, there is no way to sell footwear for that much price and, at the same time, take care of all environmental and animal welfare considerations and the compliance that we take into account,” says Zwillinger. “Amazon is saying that it wants to be a green company. You must take steps to make your products more sustainable. “
Likewise, the blatant imitation of Amazon’s Peak Design for much lower prices likely results in similar cost-cutting methods that ignore much of what makes Peak Design products unique.
“I would like to think that buying a Peak Design bag instead of the Amazon Basics bag indicates deeper care,” says Peak Design CEO Peter Dering. “It can be taking care of the environmental journey we are on. It may be the small details and innovation that generate joy for the user. Whatever it is, it means something to some people and less to others. For each customer, this decision depends on them. “
Peak Design says it could have filed legal action against Amazon – and is still contemplating those possibilities – but instead chose to release the ironic video because it believed that a lawsuit would mean less to consumers and employees. Peak Design does believe Amazon has infringed its intellectual property, however.
The company probably has a strong case, since Amazon not only copies aspects of the design, but also the name of the product: it’s called Amazon Basics Everyday Sling.
“Amazon putting the little trapezoidal patch in your bag to mimic our label is as much a compliment as a slap in the face,” says Dering. “He deserves something in return, what if it is something that we could create to bring additional joy into our lives? In the lives of our customers? So, hell, yes. Let the cameras roll. ”
The original Peak Design Everyday Sling comes with a lifetime warranty and is constructed from 100% post-consumer recycled materials approved by Blue Sign. In addition, Peak Design is a Certified B-Corporation and a founding member of Certified Climate Neutral, which means that Everyday Sling is a responsible, carbon-neutral product. The company hopes that the corners that Amazon cut to make its imitation bag will be important enough for consumers to move away from Amazon Basics and return to the original.