For most people, Uniqlo is where you go to get cheap socks and basics. For one couple, it’s apparently where they went for a quickie.
To be exact, it was the fitting room of Uniqlo’s Beijing flagship in the shopping center of Sanlitun. The video they made of said quickie promptly went viral on social media outlets Weibo and WeChat after it was posted online, racking up millions of views and earning the outrage of Chinese authorities, who said it “clashed with socialist core values.”
The video shows a mostly clothed man and totally naked woman having sex in front of the mirror of a fitting room. It’s not immediately evident where they are, but music can be heard in the background as the man whispers things such as ”call me husband” and “say we’ll be together.” Then a voice on an intercom says, ”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 government isn’t laughing. Executives at two of China’s top internet firms have been reprimanded for allowing the video to spread, and Beijing police are investigating who made it and circulated it online. Pornography is technically illegal in China.
Everyone else, on the other hand, seems to find no shortage of amusement in the situation. Fake H&M and Zara accounts popped up on WeChat inviting shoppers to their spacious fitting rooms, memes making fun of it have sprung up all over the internet, and one guy even got a tattoo based on the video. The Sanlitun Uniqlo has also been drawing hordes of people wanting to take selfies.
Some in China have speculated that the tape is a marketing stunt perpetrated by Uniqlo itself, a claim the company denies outright but that authorities are investigating.
“We would like to remind the public to uphold social morality and use our fitting rooms in a correct and proper way,” Uniqlo said in a statement. ”We also firmly deny some online allegations saying the video is our publicity stunt.”
It’s certainly not slowing foot traffic any. People are apparently visiting the store in question just to check out the fitting rooms, and presumably trying something on in the process.