Broadway blows the whistle on fakes

Broadway Colours has provided a masterbatch additive to ACME Whistles to help detect counterfeit whistles.

ACME Whistles has been making whistles in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter since 1860. Founded by Joseph Hudson, ACME arms the referees of FIFA, the NFL and Hockey Canada with sports whistles, and supplies police forces across the world.

ACME has made over a billion whistles in its 150-year history, and traditionally stamped them with its marque. Recently an increase in fake ACME whistles from East Asia has made a more innovative anti-counterfeiting method necessary.  

Broadway Colours, based in Suffolk, joined ACME to foil the fakers with ‘Supra-Sure’, an additive for its Process+ Technology.

The additive uses a unique combination of specialist pigments which imperceptibly alters the light refraction of the moulding’s surface. The additive can then be detected using two methods, firstly with a laser pen of specific wavelength, which shows a dot of light when the additive is present. If the product does not contain the additive the dot will not appear. 

The second method uses an acoustic detector to emit a sound and show a green light, when Supra-Sure is present. It stays silent and shows a blue light if there is no additive present.

Ben McFarlane, Sales Manager for ACME Whistles, said: “It is important to us that we can ensure our products are safe for public use and are the genuine article.  With such a large product range, across varying colours, rolling out an anti-counterfeit protection system was imperative. Broadway Colours stepped up to help us achieve this.”