The "hottest" shopping destination in Beijing is
putting one of the world's most popular clothing chains in the hot seat.
In a viral
smartphone video posted Tuesday, a young Chinese couple can be seen having
passionate sex in what appears to be a Uniqlo store fitting room.
A bespectacled
man, dressed in black from head to toe, is heard telling a naked woman to kiss
him as he tapes their steamy session in the mirror.
"Call me
husband" and "say we'll be together" were a few of other phrases
he uttered to her ear as piped music played in the background.
Then, toward the
end of the video, another female voice -- over an intercom:
"Dear customers, welcome to the Uniqlo store at Sanlitun.
There are no fitting rooms on the first floor. Please proceed to the second and
third floor if you need to try clothes on."
The footage went
viral overnight, attracting millions of views and thousands of comments. By
midday Wednesday, however, most posts containing the clip had been taken down.
Beijing police
announced online that they had received complaints about the video and would
investigate the case.
Uniqlo:
It wasn't us
Uniqlo is one of the world's biggest
"fast-fashion" chains that has been quickly expanding its presence in
the Chinese market.
Its three-story
flagship store at Sanlitun, one of the trendiest retail and entertainment
districts in Beijing, teems with shoppers throughout the day.
Some Chinese
Internet users speculated the footage was a marketing ploy by Uniqlo, prompting
the Japan-based company to issue a statement denying any involvement.
"As a
responsible international brand, Uniqlo is dedicated to providing consumers
with safe, comfortable and quality shopping experiences and locations,"
the company said. "We would like to remind all customers to abide by
society's moral standard... and properly and appropriately use our fitting
rooms."
Sex video attracts shoppers
But the video did more than just turn
heads online. On Wednesday evening, a steady stream of visitors took selfies
outside Uniqlo's flagship store in Beijing, a glass modernist building
decorated with the company's red logo.
"I came
here because of the clip," said a young Chinese man, who asked not to be
named while taking a photo of himself in front of the store.
All six of the
customers CNN spoke with inside the store said they were browsing the aisles
and looking for the infamous fitting room purely because of the sex video.
"I never
heard of Uniqlo before the clip," said a university student, shopping for
printed T-shirts who asked only to be identified by his last name Zhang.
"It's
definitely a marketing strategy," said a 17-year-old wearing a red bandana
around his head who asked only to be named as Mike. He came to the shop for the
first time with two female friends decked out in flamboyant, pop
culture-infused outfits.
"We came
here specifically to check out the fitting room," said Melody Gao, an
18-year-old friend of Mike wearing hot-pink sunglasses, a front ponytail and an
over-sized basketball jersey.
Guards with
walkie-talkies stood outside the busy fitting rooms on the store's second and
third floors.
Asked about the
sex video, an Uniqlo employee just smiled, shook his head in silence and then
carried on folding men's underwear.
No comments:
Post a Comment