The issue of banning Squid Game on Chinese e-commerce platforms remains a hot topic. Now, another problem added fuel to the fire, and netizens are becoming fed up. The popular Netflix show is banned in China, but people watch it illegally. The show is deemed too dark for their country’s morals, and hence there is no chance that it will be adapted for audience consumption. The ban hasn’t stopped merchants from working on creating Squid Game-related merch. But what broke the dam isn’t the inaccessibility of the show but the act of blatant plagiarizing.
BBC News reports that the Chinese streaming giant Youku created promotional material for their new variety show named “Squid’s Victory.” Similar to Squid Game, the show is about contestants competing in kid’s games on an adult scale. The poster design is also eerily similar to that of Squid Game’s poster.
Youku responded and apologized through Weibo, stating it was a work error as the teaser they posted is the draft to the new game’s Victory Show. Social media users are not convinced, and it got to the point that some see it as a cultural spat between South Korea and China. The platform giant with an estimated user scale of 90 to 100 million is under the watchful eyes of people on how they’d act next after this debacle.