You know those nosebleeds that anime characters get when they see an attractive person?
A nail salon was scrutinised for filming a video showing a woman getting a nosebleed as a muscular male manicurist attended to her.
Did I mention that he was shirtless?
Chinese authorities are now investigating the nail salon.
Nail Salon Under Investigation
The nail salon is located in the Wuhua district of Kunming, China.
Malaysian media China Press reported that the nail salon has since come under the scrutiny of the authorities.
So, what’s the big hoo-ha about the video?
The video showed two hunky male manicurists attending to female customers.
One wore only an apron, while the other was entirely shirtless.
In the video, a heart-shaped cloud censored the upper body area of the shirtless manicurist.
The video showed a female customer getting a nosebleed during the manicure session, seemingly because of the attractive manicurist.
An Advertising Ploy
Speaking to mainland Chinese media, the nail salon said that they’re just a regular nail salon.
The video was an advertising joke to promote the establishment.
One of the male manicurists in the video is a salon worker.
However, he is just an apprentice.
Furthermore, the other man doesn’t work there.
He’s merely the apprentice’s friend.
The salon clarified that the apprentice usually wears clothes when attending to customers.
It claimed that the apprentice only took off his clothes that day to better “showcase his body” while shooting the video.
If you were interested in going to the nail salon because of the video, I’m sorry to disappoint you.
In addition, the nail salon claimed that the customers in the video weren’t customers at all.
In reality, the female customer with the “nosebleed” is a salon staff member.
Complaints and Controversy
According to China Press, a spokesperson for the Wuhua district authorities said it launched an investigation after receiving consumer complaints.
Moreover, some people did not take kindly to the video.
At least one mainland Chinese media outlet has criticised the nail salon’s video.
One media outlet, Jimu News, published an op-ed expressing its disapproval.
The author wrote that being shirtless in public is “uncivilised” and criticised the sexual undertones of the advertisement.
While the author acknowledged that the men in the video were not completely nude, the article claimed that the video goes against advertising laws in China.
The author was referring to the fact that advertisements in China must not disrupt good social customs and must not contain obscene or pornographic content.
The author wrote, “There is nothing wrong with wanting to attract business. However, wanting to attract customers is not a good excuse to have obscene material in advertisements.
“Using such material as a marketing ploy is not the way to run a business.”
China’s History of Shirtless Men
In the op-ed published by Jimu News, the author acknowledged that the population in China has always been more “tolerant” of topless men.
According to the Chinese tabloid Global Times, being shirtless in public originated from China’s traditional farming culture.
However, with the modernisation of society, Chinese authorities have begun deeming being shirtless as “uncivilised”.
In 2019, local governments in China launched a campaign to curb such behaviour, banning people from walking about shirtless in public.
Chinese local media Ji’nan Daily reported that authorities would strictly monitor members of the public, condemning those naked from the waist up in summer.
In Tianjin, a mandate stipulated that those found shirtless in public and uncooperative in wearing a shirt would be fined 200 yuan.
With popular animes and mangas reinforcing this trope, it may be a shock to realise that you probably won’t get a nosebleed when you see an attractive person.
In fact, this trope isn’t even backed by science.
Speaking to the Japanese site Netallica, otolaryngologist Dr Kouichirou Kanaya said, “The notion that arousal causes the heart rate and blood pressure to rise is something that’s a well-documented fact; however, in actuality, arousal and bloody noses have no direct connection.”