Is There Counterfeit Maccaw Circulating Or Is It Just Another Marketing Ploy?

TikTok user @genuine_gigi made a video that has already amassed nearly 500,000 views, comparing two Maccaw juice boxes.

She’s suggesting that one of the products could be counterfeit, after noticing several differences between the two boxes. One is labeled “Banana Strawberry Milk” and features a picture of an apple, while the other says “Banana Strawberry Shake” and doesn’t include the apple image.

She also points out that one box says “Rich in Vitamin C” while the other doesn’t, and that only one carries the “100% Santé” label. There are also some differences in the fonts and labeling, with one box featuring only English text and the other including both English and Arabic.

The “Banana Strawberry Drink” product shown in the video doesn’t appear on the LibanJus website.

The juice brand falls under LibanJus, a local food and beverage manufacturer whose history dates back to 1959. Maccaw has been around for decades and produces a range of juices, nectars, and other fruit-based drinks, including the Banana Strawberry Shake featured on its official product list. The brand makes its products in Lebanon, and it sells the 250ml Banana Strawberry Shake locally for around $0.60.

But is it actually a counterfeit product or a marketing campaign?

The big question is whether one of these boxes is actually counterfeit. After all, why would someone go to the trouble of copying a juice that already costs less than a dollar?

Then there’s the bigger question of what’s actually inside the box. If one of the products isn’t from Maccaw, consumers naturally have questions about where it came from, how it was produced, and whether it went through the same food-safety checks as the company’s official products. Comments on the video have also raised the obvious question of whether the unfamiliar box is safe to consume, with some calling on Maccaw to clarify what’s going on.

However, there’s still a possibility that this is all a marketing ploy. We’re not sure when “let’s confuse everyone and make it go viral” became the gold standard for smart marketing in Lebanon, but it seems like every brand now wants an elaborate campaign that has people playing detective online. And, of course, every time something goes viral, a whole army of marketing experts tries to explain why it’s actually genius.

News flash: getting people to talk and making people love your product are two completely different things.

Final thoughts

If Maccaw really did manufacture two different boxes and intentionally let the internet spiral into a counterfeit-product investigation just to get people talking, we’re not sure that’s particularly clever. Making people question whether the food they’re buying is legitimate or safe to consume feels like a strange route to take with a juice brand. Let’s bring back advertising products like normal people.

But again, this could actually just be a counterfeit product circulating in the Lebanese market. The differences between the two boxes are enough to raise questions, particularly when one of the versions doesn’t appear on Maccaw’s website.

What do you think about this whole ordeal? Check out the #News section on our website for more.

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