Japanese retailer Uniqlo issued a statement yesterday denying that it had any involvement with the fitting room sex tape that’s been making the rounds online.
The X-rated footage was allegedly shot in a dressing room at a Uniqlo store in Beijing’s busy Sanlitun shopping district. The one-minute clip was leaked onto WeChat on Tuesday night, and by the next day had become a top-trending subject on Weibo, China’s microblogging platform, with over 2.5 million searches and posts.
Although web users have tried their damnedest to identify the two stars of the video clip, which was filmed in a mirror by a bespectacled male holding an iPhone, no details about them have been confirmed. It’s also unclear who leaked the video.
Uniqlo has spoken up about the incident after many speculated that it was all some cleverly orchestrated marketing stunt. The family-friendly store denied that it had any part in the sexcapades in a post to its official Weibo account, and asked customers to please “obey social ethics and safeguard social justice, and use the fitting rooms provided by Uniqlo stores correctly and properly.”
China’s internet regulator, meanwhile, has placed blame on the country’s two major web portals for allowing the dressing room debauchery to be unleashed upon the world. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued a statement after the clip went viral on the microblogging platforms of both Sina and Weibo, saying that it had ‘breached some bottoms lines and violated core socialist values’.
The official urged Sina and Tencent to increase their awareness of social responsibility, strengthen management and cooperate with the authority in investigating the case.
The official said individuals suspected of propagating pornography should be held criminally responsible, adding that the CAC will keep high pressure on pornography in cyberspace.
Beijing police said on Wednesday that they were aware of the video and are investigating the case. If the couple is found to have deliberately spread the footage, they will be punished, one officer told Beijing News. Otherwise, the person who originally leaked the video will be held responsible.
The store is probably happy to know that shoppers are taking delight in the seXXXy scandal, with some trekking to Sanlitun just to take a photo in front of the infamous building where *the magic* happened.
“I came here because of the clip,” a young Chinese man told CNN while posing for a picture outside of the building.
“We came here specifically to check out the fitting room,” another 18-year-old female told reporters.
Web users, of course, are giddily posting memes in every corner of the internet. That includes the image of this tattoo, which, sadly enough for humanity, is probably actually real.
Fake Taobao screenshots show vendors using the footage to sell T-shirts and promote the Gold iPhone 6, the device used to film the video.
[Images via ettoday.net // marketing-interactive.com // WeChat]
