Talk about publicity stunts. A food delivery place, Sweetie Salad was celebrating its first anniversary. To promote healthy eating, they hired 40 Western men who paraded in the central business district and upscale shopping district in Beijing, China. They were very healthy bare-chested, wearing skimpy, tight shorts, capes and sandals.
The costumes of the men, who turned out to be male models, were replicas of the Greek Spartans who were known to be fit, strong and courageous. Sweetie Salad wanted these values depicted in the promotional parade, said reports in the Huffington Post.
The half-naked men caused such uproar with people stopping to gawk at them and have their pictures taken. China's police force was not taken by the sweet deal. They did not have the sense of humor to appreciate the stunt. They called off the men who were allegedly disturbing social order.
Some must have resisted the instructions of the police. Pictures flooded social media showing a couple Spartans being wrestled to the ground. Meanwhile, some were taken into custody.
The management of Sweetie Salad had to sweet talk their way out of the caper. They profusely apologized when reprimanded for not having the necessary permits for the parade.
Despite the hoopla, the stunt is considered a success. Many customers ordered from the salad place and expected handsome Spartans to deliver their food. Unfortunately, they were not available anymore.
Beijing, being the capital of China, is its business hub. Its economy is referred as developing, because agriculture remains to be a major contributor to its income. However, with the economic reforms implemented in the 1980's, Beijing is coming up as an industrial belt. Despite the positive changes in its business climate, Beijing, and China, as a whole, remains conservative in their view of half-naked Spartans.
