Bad Hair Ad Upsets North Koreans
Source: Aleks Marinkovic on Unsplash
North Korean officials visit salon over Kim Jong-un 'bad hair' advert
North Korean officials paid a visit to a London hair salon to question why it had used their leader Kim Jong-un's picture in a poster offering haircuts.The poster in M&M Hair Academy in South Ealing featured the words "Bad Hair Day?" below the leader's picture.
Barber Karim Nabbach said embassy officials were shown the door and the salon's manager spoke to the police.
The Met Police said: "We have spoken to all parties involved and no offence has been disclosed."
The salon put up the poster on 9 April and the next day two men claiming to be officials from the North Korean embassy visited the salon and demanded to meet the manager, Mo Nabbach.
Karim Nabbach said: "We put up posters for an offer for men's hair cuts through the month of April. Obviously in the current news there has been this story that North Korean men are only allowed one haircut.
"We didn't realise but the North Korean embassy is a 10-minute walk from the salon. The next day we had North Korean officials pop into the salon asking to speak to the manager.
"He said 'listen this isn't North Korea, this is England, we live in a democracy so I'm afraid you're going to have to get out of my salon'."
The manager later informed the police about the visit by the North Koreans and he was told the embassy had also contacted officers.
"We haven't had any trouble since then, if anything the poster has become a tourist attraction," Karim Nabbach said.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, he added: "A lot of our loyal clients found it hilarious and people on the street came in and complimented us on it and it drew in a little bit of business.
"No-one asked for the 'Un'.
"It was never intended to be a political statement, it's all tongue-in-cheek. We were just using it as a cheeky ad campaign."
Last month it was reported by Radio Free Asia that male university students in North Korea were now required to get the same haircut as their leader.
Vocabulary:
to pay a visit to (a place) -
to be shown the door -
an offence -
to disclose -
to claim -
to demand -
current (adj) -
to realise -
to pop into (a place) -
a client -
hilarious (adj) -
to compliment sb -
to draw in business -
tongue-in-cheek -
cheeky (adj) -
an ad -
Read more on the story (and watch the video) Source: Daily Mail
to be shown the door -
an offence -
to disclose -
to claim -
to demand -
current (adj) -
to realise -
to pop into (a place) -
a client -
hilarious (adj) -
to compliment sb -
to draw in business -
tongue-in-cheek -
cheeky (adj) -
an ad -
Read more on the story (and watch the video) Source: Daily Mail
Comments
Kim Jong-un doesn't seem to have a sense of humour.
People should be allowed to have their hair as they want, for sure!
I also find comical that Korean police went to a hairdresser in London because of they had made an ad with the Korean Leader. UK is a country with opinion liberty and this things might not happen.
I've even read about holidays to North Korea. Maybe you could pay Kim Jong-un a visit when you are over in that part of the world.
I imagine it is no joke living there.
I also find it comical that Korean police went to a hairdresser in London because they had made an ad with the Korean Leader. The UK is a country with freedom of speech and opinion and these things should not happen.
You never know. His hairstyle might catch on here.
I find the North Koreans getting upset about an advert of their leader in the window of a hairdesser's as absurd as the Spanish getting their knickers in a twist about French puppets making fun of their sportsmen.
On the other hand, when someone goes out of their way to offend (as with the caricatures of Muhammad), it stops being funny.
I don´t understand why people don´t respect the freedom of expression. Perhaps it isn´t the most famous case.
For example I don't understand why Islamic people are offended when Muhammad appears in a picture, I know that their religion bans it, but I would never complain about this.