Please use our fitting rooms in 'correct way', Uniqlo says

Please use our fitting rooms in 'correct way', Uniqlo says

A Beijing outlet of Japanese clothing giant Uniqlo has become a "hot" shopping destination.

Not because of the trendy clothes on the shelves but for a sex video taken inside one of its fitting rooms.

Needless to say, the one-minute video went viral, viewed by millions of people, setting Chinese Internet alight.

It created such an impact that Beijing's online watchdog said the video has struck a severe blow to the country's "core socialist values", The Guardian reported.

Authorities made their displeasure clear, which forced the Japanese retailer to react.

"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, denying online rumours that it had masterminded the video as a marketing stunt.

Executives at two of China's top Internet firms were given an official reprimand for allowing the pornographic film to have publicity.

Beijing police are reportedly investigating who made the film and how it appeared online.

"The vulgar video had spread like a virus online and clashed with socialist core values," Xu Feng, a director at the Cyberspace Administration of China, was quoted as saying by the Global Times newspaper.

The government would "continue to crack down on vulgar materials online and safeguard the cyber environment," the director said.

In the video, a bespectacled man, dressed in black from head to toe, is heard telling a naked woman to kiss him as he films their steamy session in the mirror.

"Call me husband" and "say we'll be together" were a few of the other phrases he uttered to her ear as piped music played in the background, CNN reported.

Towards the end of the video, another female voice can be heard 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."

By mid-day Wednesday, most posts containing the clips were taken down. But the video did more than just shock and amuse online.

SELFIES

On Wednesday evening and yesterday, a steady stream of visitors took selfies outside the flagship store, 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 and who took a photo of himself in front of the store. All six of the customers CNN spoke to said they were browsing the aisles and looking for the infamous fitting room.

Jokes spread on social media including a spoof photograph of a warning supposedly posted in a fitting room at Harrods, the upmarket London department store. "Dear customers!" the fake sign read. "The new rule is: each Chinese couple can only have 10 minutes using those fitting rooms which is fully enough … Sorry for any inconvenience that will cause."

Across the street from the shop, a Communist party propaganda poster outlined the "core socialist values" in bright red Chinese characters. "Patriotism, dedication, integrity, friendship."


This article was first published on July 17 2015.
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