Reveal, the Gen Z investigative series against fake made in Italy

An investigative, interactive and gamified video series designed for all social media that turns users into protagonists of a counterfeit investigation. The narrative revolves around a mysterious sabotage during a photo shoot, in which authentic products are replaced with fakes and every member of the crew becomes a potential suspect.

It is called 'Reveal' and is the winning project of Challenge The Fake 2026, the initiative - now in its second year - in which teams of university students challenge each other to come up with creative campaigns against counterfeiting. Over 50 university students, organised in 19 teams (aged between 18 and 24), participated in the training course by developing anti-counterfeiting awareness campaigns aimed at their own generation, also experimenting with advanced digital tools, including artificial intelligence tools for the creation of social campaigns, websites and multimedia content.

Promoted by Amazon in collaboration with Indicam (the Italian Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property) and Bocconi University, the project has been included among the activities recognised by the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy as part of the National Made in Italy Day. The initiative was created to raise awareness among young people on the issue of counterfeiting and the protection of intellectual property, turning creativity, technology and entrepreneurial spirit into concrete tools to promote authenticity and conscious consumption.

"Counterfeiting is a serious phenomenon that has very significant consequences for the community," said Valentino Valentini, deputy minister of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. "Billions of euro are stolen from the legal market, from businesses, from the State. In addition to the risks to health, safety and the environment arising from the consumption of counterfeit products. With the spread of the web and social media, the phenomenon has taken on increasingly worrying dimensions, encroaching on numerous and dangerous offences. Counterfeiting can no longer be fought with traditional methods alone, which must necessarily be accompanied by a new storytelling of the importance of originality. In the creative projects that have been presented, there is courage, innovation and passion: they are works that confirm that originality has an inestimable value and that counterfeiting is a poorly made copy of a future that none of us want".

In Italia, Amazon will provide the winners with a job interview preparation course and mock interview sessions. In addition, students will have the opportunity to present their project at Indicam's annual summit in June. The winners from Italia, Spain and the United Kingdom will also participate in the European award ceremony organised at the Euipo (European Union Office for Intellectual Property) in Alicante.