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Hong Kong police spoof of Japanese viral video lampooned, goes viral

A video from Hong Kong’s police that takes inspiration from Japanese viral film Pen Pineapple Apple Pen has been lampooned by Hongkongers in social media, some describing the film as humiliating for the officers involved.

The 33-second film uses Pen Pineapple Apple Pen’s goofy beat and dance moves to encourage Hongkongers to buckle up, opening with a male and female officer singing and dancing as they motion to put on their seat belt. They repeatedly sing the words “I have a seat belt, I have a buckle”.

The film has raced to 1.2m views since posting two days ago, and has prompted a huge spike in engagement on the HK police’s Facebook page.

One Facebook user wrote: “I can only see whoever gives permission to implement such a brilliant idea intentionally [wants to] humiliate the police, trying to make them feel shame.”

Some of the derision stemmed from the fact that people didn’t realise that the film was a parody of Pen Pineapple Apple Pen, a video by DJ Piko-Taro, a Japanese comedian who has been dubbed the next Psy.

Hong Kong police is standing by its decision to make the film, giving the South China Morning Post the statement: “HKP Facebook will continue to utilise the advantages of multimedia including videos, images, texts and other innovative means to engage the community. The HKP Facebook post on 28 September was one of many different types and styles to illustrate our diversified natures of police work, and had attracted a large number of ‘Likes’ and positive comments.”

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