A nail salon in the Wuhua district of Kunming, China, has come under investigation by the country's authorities after a video surfaced on social media showing topless muscular male manicurists attending to female customers, Malaysian media China Press reported.

The video showed one man who was entirely shirtless, and another wearing just an apron attending to female customers.

It also included a scene of a woman having a nosebleed during her manicure session.

Nail salon: Video shot as an advertising joke

In response to queries by mainland Chinese media, the nail salon replied that it is a regular salon and that the video was shot as an advertising joke for promotional purposes.

It also clarified that one of the men featured in the video is an apprentice at the salon, while the second man is his friend, and the female customer with the "nosebleed" is a salon staff member.

The salon added that the apprentice usually wears clothes while attending to customers.

"However, he took off his clothes on the day we shot our little video to better showcase his body," the nail salon claimed.

Investigation launched after consumers complained

A spokesperson for the Wuhua district authorities was quoted by China Press as saying that it launched the investigation after it received complaints from consumers.

At least one mainland Chinese media outlet, Jimu News, also ran an op-ed criticising the salon, putting forth the argument that being shirtless in public is a sign of "being uncivilised" and slammed the advertisement for having sexual undertones.

The piece further highlighted the legal requirements in China's advertising laws — it must not disrupt social mores or feature obscene or pornographic content.

"Strictly speaking, by relying on such an advertising method to solicit for customers, it has already broken the law," the op-ed further claimed.

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