perfidy

And they've been shot down.

Wine maker's mass nude run promotion scrapped

BEIJING, Dec 21 (Reuters Life!) - Police in central China have scotched a wine maker's plans for a mass Christmas Eve "nude run" which the company said was a public interest event to discourage the use of "excessive packaging" in the industry.

Jixiang Ruyi Tobacco and Alcohol Company offered 284 people 10,000 yuan ($1,280) in cash and prizes to participate in a naked dash through Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, the People's Daily reported on its Web site on Thursday.

The company's advertisement called for "auspicious" men and women under the age of 30 with "healthy bodies" and "regular features" to apply.

"The goal of this streaking event is to raise consumer awareness and declare war on the excessive packaging of 'baijiu' through the language of the body," the report quoted a manager surnamed Ma as saying.

The police "scotched" the PR trick for pretty understandable reasons:

Zhengzhou police rejected the company's application for a permit to hold the run.

"Public commercial events ... must meet moral standards," CCTV quoted a police official as saying. "Such mass streakings do not."

But oddly enough (no surprise, in an article from Reuters' "Oddly Enough" series), the Jixiang Ruyi Tobacco and Alcohol Company was apparently going to have several sorts of trouble filling the field, anyway:

Over 1,700 people had applied in four days, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on its Web site, the overwhelming majority of them men.

Well, that would clearly have been a problem - who the hell wants to watch a bunch of hotdogs flopping through the streets of Zhengzhou? And then there was this:

"We have already invited experts from the beauty industry to conduct physical checks on the applicants. Their mental condition must also be sound. According to the tests, there are only 30 or so that qualify," CCTV quoted a company official surnamed Cao, as saying.

Whoops. But it is refreshing to see a case where efforts to uphold moral standards, whether that works or doesn't, indirectly uphold some basic standard of good taste.

[wik] Hmmm. I wonder which hurdle most rejects failed to cross, mental or physical?