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Show me the money: Wealth-flaunting meme goes viral in China
SHANGHAI, Oct 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Chinese social media users have seized
on a viral meme in which people are pictured literally rolling in their own
wealth, spawning a range of cheeky counter-posts poking fun at the country’s
nouveau riche.
Posts related to the aptly-named Wealth-Flaunting Challenge on China’s
popular Weibo platform had been viewed more than 2.3 billion times, drawing
more than a million comments.
In the meme, which originated in Russia, social media users post pictures
of themselves falling face-down to the pavement as they exit their cars, the
ground strewn with their cash, credit cards, jewellery, designer bags and
shoes, and other luxury items and electronics.
Decades of skyrocketing economic growth have given China the most dollar
billionaires of any country in the world with 620, according to Shanghai-
based magazine publisher Hurun Report, and many of China’s newly wealthy are
not shy about showing off their luxury cars and accoutrements.
But the meme has inspired a wealth of parodies in China, with people seeing
it as a golden opportunity to mock the rich.
In one, a man labelled as a “hard-working” staff member is shown on the
ground in front of what appears to be an office building surrounded by an
array of cleaning supplies, brooms and mops.
Even government agencies have joined the party, providing a propaganda
bonanza.
Shanghai’s fire department showed personnel splayed on the ground next to
fire trucks and surrounded by firefighting equipment, while the Hubei
province police department depicted a gun-toting officer standing next to his
vehicle over four men on the ground in civilian clothes, representing “evil
forces”.
And companies have seized on the frenzy to advertise their goods.
A woman who works for a subsidiary of China National Gold Group posed belly
down with her feet up on an luxurious armchair and bullions strewn around
her.
MORE/MR/ 1420 hrs
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– ‘Out of their mind?’ –
Other tongue-in-cheek posts include a woman surrounded by an array of
lipsticks with her feet resting on a white sofa, or a man on the ground with
six cats.
“Everyone has something he or she thinks is the most valuable or what he or
she cares about the most. To me, it’s my cats,” said Li Dong, 33, the cat
owner who joined the challenge on Weibo in mid-October.
“It’s an exaggerated way of expression. I think it’s fun so I showed my
cats off,” Li told AFP.
Much of the online reaction to the wave of postings dismissed them as a
waste of time compared to the altruistic objectives of the previous “Ice
Bucket Challenge”, which went global.
“Are these people out of their mind? How empty must their life be so that
they are figuring out different ways to prove their existence,” said one
posting on Weibo.
Others, however, were more positive about posts by university students and
young workers using the meme to present academic and professional
accomplishments.
“It’s disheartening to see young people being impacted by the pursuit of
money and power. I support the young people who are hard-working. That’s
where the country’s hope lies!” read one post on Weibo.
– Russian socialites –
The first “falling stars challenge” was posted on Instagram by Russian DJ
and music producer Andrey Shirman, known as DJ Smash, on July 30, showing him
in tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt sprawled face down at the foot of the
gangway of a private jet.
It was quickly followed by similar posts from a succession of high-profile
models and socialites — most wearing swimwear or short shorts —
photographed stretched out near private jets and luxury yachts. Their posts
garnered tens of thousands of likes.
One famous contributor was Ksenia Sobchak, former TV star and 2018
presidential candidate, who in mid-August put up a photo of herself in a
swimsuit falling down the stairs of what appears to be a yacht.
Criticism of this public flaunting of wealth has been muted in Russia, with
commentators suggesting the whole fad was just a bit of summer fun.
Like in China, as the #fallingstars2018 hashtag gained momentum, Russians
started putting up parodies. One shows a young woman falling off a deckchair
in a bikini; in another, a man is face down in front of a couch with his head
on a fashion magazine.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1420 hrs