‘30 US cents to rent a boyfriend’ to carry bags while shopping makes comeback at Chinese shopping mall on Valentines’s Day
· A mainland shopping centre’s rent-a-boyfriend promotion for Valentine’s Day goes viral on social media
· A video showed a counter selling the ‘boyfriend experience’ decorated in pink with a line-up of men in black suits with QR codes attached
A Chinese shopping centre’s boyfriend-for-hire service to celebrate Valentine’s Day this month has gone viral in mainland China.
The promotion by a centre in Henan province in central China trended online after it kicked off the service on February 14, where a single person could hire a man to accompany them around the centre for a few hours. The service cost 2.14 yuan (30 US cents), The Paper reported.
A shopping centre in Hainan province in southern China ran a similar service back in 2017 where women could hire a handsome date for one yuan (15 US cents) per hour to celebrate Christmas together.
A video posted with the story showed a counter selling the “boyfriend experience” at the shopping centre decorated in pink with a line-up of men in black suits with QR codes attached and waiting to be rented.
A staff member from the centre said the service was designed for single customers who wanted to celebrate Valentine’s Day. As long as the customers paid by scanning the QR code, they could “own” a man for their allotted time.
The rental man could go shopping, walk around or even dine with their single renter; however, all the activities had to be inside the shopping centre.
The story divided opinions on mainland social media, some praised the service as thoughtful, but others said it was not a positive service for the public.
One person said: “I hope other malls across the country can learn from it.”
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