-In the Philippines, Havaianas are the absolute rage in flip-flop fashion. Cool designs. Feels good on your feet. Chic-looking. Oh, and did I mention expensive? Pictures and the rest of the story after the break.

I know, I know. OMG. However, you’d be screaming OMFG once you see the price tag on these babies: more than $20 for the acclaimed rubber footwear. I’d stick with cheaper slippers that provide basically the same protection from the ground. Gawd, with $20, you’d think they’d throw in, say, a rocket booster.

Right now, you might be cussing Havaianas for being expensive. Or, you may be furiously heading over to the flip-flop’s official website and buying a warehouseful of slippers. But not before you check out this funny alternative:

That price isn’t in dollars—it’s in Philippine pesos. At an exchange rate of $1=P40, our foreign friends would have to cough up a mere $1.17. I repeat, one dollar and seventeen cents. The biggest bargain of your life, right?

Wrong.

If you’ve been in the Philippines for more than a day, you will have noticed how prominent imitation items are in this country, and those imitation Havaianas are just one example. Naturually, these imitation items don’t have as much quality as their original counterparts, so while you’re saving money, you’re losing quality.

The untrained eye may actually be fooled by how the flip-flops look. Aside from the material’s poor quality, haphazardly printed design, and ready-to-rub-off “Havaianas” print, the imitation looks just like the original. At least the, uhm, makers of this particular line of imitation Havvies were smart (and trademark-stealing) enough to label their product as Havaianas. Other imitation Havaianas slippers are labeled “Havannas,” much to my amusement.

I don’t know if I should report these people to the government, although I am sure they’re breaking a law, if not multiple laws. I’m not one to tattle, and the guys selling the cheap and fake Havaianas live over a tarpaulin roof behind their makeshift store. I have pity, you know. Maybe you can do the tattling so I won’t feel guilty?

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