From ZeroHedge, March 18:
As senior diplomats from Beijing and Washington meet in Alaska, the Taiwanese government is issuing an advisory urging its citizens to stop changing their names to "Salmon" after a sushi chain's promotion reaffirmed just how far people will go for free stuff.
It all started when Japanese sushi chain Sushiro launched a promotion offering a free meal to customers with names that included the traditional Chinese character for salmon "guiyu". Customers with names that sounded similar to the word could also enjoy a meal for half price.
The offer sparked what the local media characterized as "salmon madness", per WaPo.
Dory Wang, a Sushiro marketing manager, said about 200 customers with the name “Salmon” on their identity card had visited one of the chain’s restaurants on Wednesday, adding that the response of seafood-loving Taiwanese had exceeded expectations. “We appreciated those who are willing to change their names for our sushi,” Wang said.
"Five people requested a name change today and another six yesterday,” said Ou Minxin, an official at a local household registration office in Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second-largest city. "We have seen changed names such as 'Hotness Salmon,' 'Dip Wasabi and Eat Salmon,' and 'Can't Help but Want to Eat Free Salmon.'" Ou said most of them changed their names back after having a meal. “It has indeed added to our workload, but it is quite interesting,” he said....
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It seems the sushi promo went better than the American response to the Chinese oratory in Alaska.
