The world has fallen head over heels with Squid Game and Halloween is around the corner.
This would naturally only mean one thing: Ever-savvy China factories are getting in on the act to milk it.
Rip-off costumes
Plastered across Shopee, Taobao, as well as dozen other seller sites, are cheap knock-offs of the pink costume worn by the soldier henchmen as seen in the hit series.
However, the resemblance to the real deal is like expecting to draw the Mona Lisa only to complete the Lona Misa.
The product samples, even before shipping, already look like an abomination.
As advertised:
The one-piece jump-suit as seen in the show is being sold as a windbreaker and track pants combo -- with a triangle plastered on them to suggest they are remotely Squid Game related.
Whereas the original, with industrial-grade materials, looks like a cross between personal protective equipment and Money Heist bank robber/ hostage wear, the top and bottom matching tracksuit from Shopee will just maker the wearer look like a sloppy sartorially-challenged undergraduate.
And the colour is all wrong.
And that doesn't appear to be the worst part.
The worst part
The henchman mask comes in two parts as seen in the show.
There is the face-hugging black balaclava mask that serves as the primary layer that makes the wearer really sweaty underneath it all, followed by the now iconic exterior black fencer mask with a shape on it worn as both to hide the wearer's identity and to display rank.
And this is what is on sale on Shopee:
Do you choose to play this game?
Do you want to enjoy whatever's left of a socially-distanced Halloween 2021 or do you want to be a laughing stock by ordering a costume?
Do you choose to play this game or walk away with your humanity still intact?
The choice is yours.
Choose wisely.
All photos via Shopee except those from Squid Game via Netflix