On Sunday TVB Pearl screened a BBC documentary on counterfeiting of sports merchandise - particularly that of Manchester Unit ed, the world's richest and, by some measures, most popular football club.
The programme, which carried a strident and alarmist tone, laid it on thick: counterfeiting was an insidious illegal trade that imposed heavy costs on legitimate businesses and cost honest workers their jobs.
Ironically, a day later Manchester United, which is listed on the London stock exchange, reported a 42 per cent rise in first-half profits.
This column has no desire to make an argument in favour of counterfeiting. Security of property rights is an essential component of economic growth and stability. Yet it was difficult to avoid the impression that the BBC team had missed a wider economic context.
Much of the footage was filmed from the back of a car, catching jerky pictures of the back of interviewees' heads.
At one point, the words 'secret filming' appeared on the screen as the BBC hacks haggled over a fake shirt with a Bangkok street vendor. Doubtless the Thai Government will be shocked - shocked! - to learn that fake products are on sale on Khao San Road. Immediate action can surely be expected.