Beijing Cops Arrested Some Foreign Models Dressed as Scantily Clad Salad-Slinging Spartans

On Wednesday, Beijing was buzzing with news and pictures of an army of Spartan warriors, wearing only capes and loincloths, storming the subways and marching on Sanlitun, a shopping district known for its drug dealers and the recent headline-making Uniqlo sex tape. The Hellenic invasion might have succeeded if not for a last stand by Beijing police, who arrested some of the bare-chested marchers.

The cosplayers were actually foreign models hired to plug Sweetie Salads, a lunch delivery service based out of the central business district that was celebrating what is now probably a pretty awkward one-year anniversary. The arrests speak to the growing tension between China's embrace of market capitalism and its old-school security apparatus.

"Passersby scrambled to take photos of the scantily dressed men when they first appeared on the street, and the volume of onlookers was deemed disturbing by authorities," reported the state-owned China Daily. "Beijing police issued warnings and ordered them to stop, and those who failed to cooperate after several warnings were eventually escorted away."

The paper adds, "In China, those who want to parade for any purposes must obtain a permit from the authorities beforehand."

"I was at a lunch session when they were promoting at Jianwai Soho," said Stephanie Wang, a business developer for a local design studio. Soho is a brand of upper-crust business and shopping centers.

"It was cool," she continued. "It was just guys dancing together and letting people take photos and scan the QR code on the bottom of the salad. Nothing weird happened."

The epic march continued to Sanlitun, about two subway stops away, where the salad-tossing procession ran into Beijing's finest. What happened next is not entirely clear, but photos on social media show police holding down two of them on an overpass.

"It's a good promo for that salad company" said another spectator, who happened to be passing by the promotion. "Now everybody knows about this fucking salad."

It is not clear how many participated or were detained. The Global Times (nicknamed "China's Fox News" by Foreign Policy) published a breathless report of "around 100 scantily-clad foreigners," of whom "dozens" were arrested. A security guard at Sanlitun Soho, who did not give his name, was more conservative: "About 35" participated, he told me, which seems consistent with the number shown in online photographs. He only saw about three arrested.

Many expats moonlight as models or actors, although such work is illegal on most visas. In the past, police have posed as agents to trap unsuspecting student models.

Sweetie Salad apologized for the commotion. "We did a Spartan activity, but did not anticipate that people's interest would exceed our expectations," the company admitted in an online mea culpa. "We will strictly follow the police's instruction," the company promised. "Thanks for everyone's support and thanks to the police for directing and maintaining our activity." (A phone call on Thursday afternoon was not returned by the time of publication.)

This is not the first time the Beijing Fun Police made headlines by being a total buzzkill. In 2008, police detained members of a local running club until 4 AM after mistaking their baking flour for a chemical weapon. In 2010, a group in Santa costumes was expelled from Tiananmen square for an attempted group photograph.

The Spartan drama played out not far from Sanlitun's Uniqlo, made famous last week by a sex video shot in a changing room. Authorities arrested five people connected to the steamy film, prompting some to speculate that local police were being unusually vigilant on the day of the Spartans' arrest. (The 70-second quickie was condemned by the Chinese Cyberspace Administration for infringing against "core Socialist values.")

Despite Uniqlo's firm denials, some netizens still believe the viral video was a marketing ploy. In either case, CNN reports that the store is benefiting from a stiff rise (so to speak) in popularity, prompting authorities to scrub the store's name from social media searches. The Global Times called it "the best marketing campaign of the year."

Silly stunts have backfired before. Last year, a risqué campaign brought heavy fines to a Shanghai laundry service after actors [stripped](http://www.shanghaidaily.com/metro/society/Company-faces-fine-over-racy-ad/shdaily.shtml . ) to their underwear on the subway.

All of which raises a delicate question for Chinese authorities: How long can the state and market continue politely ignoring each other? As long as the government remains determined to fertilize innovative startups ("Innovation" and "startup" being among the most tediously overused words in official newspeak) we can probably expect a steady rise in desperate publicity gambits by both established businesses and wannabe zillionaires.

Echo Wei contributed translation.