A sex selfie video of a young man and woman in a fitting room of a Uniqlo store in Sanlitun, Beijing, was uploaded to the Internet on Tuesday. The angle and quality of the video shooting are better than ordinary selfies. This led some people to guess that the video was directed by a third party. Some people even questioned that the video is just a publicity stunt.

On Wednesday, the Uniqlo side firmly denied the allegations that the video was marketing gimmick. On the one hand, famous international clothing retailers, including Uniqlo, always keep a sense of proportion in marketing. On the other hand, however, gossip-style marketing is becoming increasingly common. Therefore, it’s difficult to tell whether big firms may also get lost in the present-day commercial environment.

Obviously, no matter who the instigators are, they have already achieved their goal. After being uploaded, this video has gained a large number of clicks and screenshots have spread. Some people even went to Sanlitun’s Uniqlo store to take “commemorative photos.”

What’s more, some marketing accounts on the Internet further made an issue of this video. Some similar videos and photos, like sex video of two men in fitting rooms in Wuxi, have been uploaded.  

Hyped by people’s curiosity and some marketing activities carried out with ulterior motives, Chinese people’s frenzy for gossip has been stirred by this Uniqlo video. Gossip could be quickly spread without mass mobilization. 
Why has the Uniqlo sex tape become so popular? Is that because of the low taste of our Internet society? Perhaps the answer is no. However, on the present-day Internet, there are many phenomenon that are moving further away from our noble traditions. Internet users prefer to create some new strange expressions and tell unexpected eccentric stories. It seems that the Chinese Internet has already entered an “era of gossip.” 

It’s quite difficult to judge whether the current “era of gossip” is good or bad. It’s just a given fact, which is the foundation and starting point of today’s ideological structure. Orderly society has been shuffled and virtually rearranged on the Internet, leaving the dumbfounding result where decent tradition has been replaced by gossip. 

In such a case, a high-end marketing style would definitely lose on the Internet. It seems that only playing a little ugly and speaking a bit rudely could attract fans. 

Internet is the stronghold of populism all over the world, especially in China. Although it is unable to compete with positive energies in many societies, it has its own moral standards and independent principles. A society should be tolerant enough to accommodate populism and prevent it from standing in the way of national development.  
Perhaps the Uniqlo sex tape is not a big deal, because gossips can never stop. Through these gossips, some nature of the Internet can be reflected, which pushes our country to dock the construction of society with the reality of the Internet instead of developing groundless measures. 

Users of the Internet are also people in reality. However, many people view the Internet as a free kingdom in which they could call others’ names and enjoy the pleasure of breaking the rules. Against such backdrops, promoting positive energies based on rationality in traditional society is a tricky process, which requires us to be objective, patient and be creative in our methods. 


The author is a commentator with the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn