While Netflix’s original series “Squid Game” is gaining popularity around the world, a new Chinese entertainment show has been drawing attention from netizens.
Recently, China’s OTT service YOUKU announced the launch of the entertainment program “Squid’s Victory”.
According to the announcement, it is said to be China’s first social variety show where participants challenge childhood games that require both physical strength and intelligence. It looks similar to the core content of “Squid Game” in that it depicts the process of building teamwork while testing physical strength and intelligence. Although “Squid’s Victory” is just a working title, the public can’t help but naturally think of “Squid Game”.
In particular, the font of △, □, ○ designs emphasized in the characteristic pink of “Squid Game” reminded the viewers of the original logo. There have also been voices of criticism among Chinese netizens that it was a “plagiarism” or “parody”. Some even commented that the “Squid’s Victory” production crew deliberately used this tactic for noise marketing.
However, YOUKU has not issued any particular statement yet. Meanwhile, Netflix – an American online video streaming (OTT) company with the drama “Squid Game” at the forefront, has shown a significant increase in subscribers and an improvement of sales performance as expected. Netflix shared that “Squid Game” became their most popular program ever as it ranked first in 94 countries and was watched by 142 million households in total.
