Spiderman pay-for-Valentine stunt mocked in China
Live-streaming hosts get little love when they offer themselves as stand-in partners in Beijing
Two enterprising Chinese live-streaming hosts failed to impress passers-by in Beijing by charging for kissing, hugging and hand-holding services on China’s equivalent of Valentine’s Day.
A man, dressed up as Spiderman and his female co-host tried to make money by offering to act as stand-in love interests on Monday, which marked this year’s Qixi Festival.
The festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, celebrates a romantic folk tale.
As part of a video programme produced for the festival, the pair set up banners in the entertainment district of Sanlitun to promote their dating services and prices. A hug cost three yuan (45 US cents), a kiss seven yuan and helping people show off in front of ex-lovers cost 77 yuan a time.
Customers were also charged seven yuan for 15 minutes to watch movies with the hosts, but ghost movies were banned, the banners said.
The hosts were live-streaming the activity on a video website, although they appeared to have got little business.