Is American pop star Taylor Swift’s new romance with British actor Tom Hiddleston gonna be forever or is it gonna go down in flames? Well, apparently, most Chinese netizens are thinking the latter, with “breakup insurance” being promoted on Taobao earlier this month, allowing people to bet on how long it will be until this new flame is snuffed out.
The sellers of the insurance guaranteed that if Hiddleswift breaks up, buyers will get back at least double their bet. Lots of netizens jumped in on what seemed like easy money.
Unfortunately, the posting on China’s e-commerce giant made international news and has since been taken down. Weibo users are disappointed that they missed out on the money-making opportunity of a lifetime:
“This is such a great way to make a quick buck!” one wrote.
“Where’s the breakup insurance? I’m going to bet on her relationship too,” another commented.
“Well, I won’t buy a new bag; instead, i’ll just use that money to gamble on her brief relationship,” one netizen joked.
Still, there are many more chances for fortunes to be made, if you know where to look. On Taobao, netizens can also bet on whether Katy Perry will win a Grammy Award in 2017 or whether the new season of the popular BBC drama “Sherlock” will air next year as promised, Mashable reported.
Heck, netizens can also wager on their own love lives as well. Xinhua News reports that single people can purchase a special kind of insurance. If they are fortunate enough to meet their the love of their lives within a month of their bet, the seller will reward them with 13.14 yuan — which stands for “lifetime” in Chinese. Anyway, if they fail to meet that special someone in real life, then they can always buy her on Taobao as well.
While netizens are having fun cashing in on celebrities’ love lives, they may not be aware that they are actually participating in illegal online gambling. According to Chinese law, citizens can only take part in betting or lottery services provided by China’s state-sponsored welfare and sports lotteries.
Regarding the online gambling, Liu Xiaojie, the representative of Taobao’s PR department told Sixth Tone that some insurances are promotional tactics for some shops on Taobao, promising that there will be a new system for removal of insurance products.
It looks like everything has changed.
Taytay is a JD.com girl anyway.
By Katie Ngai
[Images via Xinhua News]
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