Many of us here at Shanghaiist were so-called "kids of the 80s." So, it should come as no surprise that we were among the thousands for whom that decade's most famous slab of clay has come to mind in the time Haibao has existed. Whether or not the coincidence is intentional or accidental is a moot point anyway: Gumby is green. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the mascot of Xinxiang Haibao Electrical Appliance Company: not only is he blue, but he also wears a cape, much like nü-Haibao does in the videos where he patrols Shanghai's streets for fakes, weapons and all things evil. Thankfully, the company reports it has "never had so much free publicity" - and after all, isn't public interest what branding is meant to generate anyway? more ›

Who woulda thought - the big hubbub over the Expo song which sounded like a Japanese pop ditty from the 1990s has caused it to be withdrawn. Officials of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination confirmed that it had suspended "2010 Waits for You" "for caution's sake" until they have had an investigation. They also stressed that it was just a promotional lead up song and not the theme song, as some people believed. No word on whether they'll be investigating Haibao's strange similarity to Gumby though. more ›

We've long known about how some intrepid American cartoonists went back in time to 1956 and created that blatant Haibao rip off, Gumby (you can't fool us with the different coloring, blasted Americans!)... but now we find out that the Japanese had their own time machine as well - China Smack has discovered how this shameless Japanese pop star copied our Expo theme song in 1997! more ›

We want some of whatever this guy is smoking: more ›