The world-famous “Rubber Duck” is spawning a slew of imitators in China. This weekend, at least 10 fake ducks appeared across the country in what could only be called a quack up.
Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created the original 16m tall inflatable sculpture, which has been displayed in Amsterdam, Osaka, Sydney and Hong Kong.
The sculpture will be displayed until June 9 in Hong Kong, where it has received considerable media attention.
Other cities in China seem to long for giant rubber ducks of their own. On June 1, which was Children’s Day, a whole bunch of knock-offs appeared in China.
According to online Chinese reports, there were around 10 ducks in various locations, including Wuhan, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Foshan, Xi’an, Dongguan and more. Although, a Google search seems to indicate there might have been more. Here are some of the ducks:
Wuhan
Shenzhen
Foshan
Hangzhou
Changzhou
Dongguan
Tianjin
Nanjing
Xi’an
Um…
This one in Dongguan is the best fake rubber duck.
Oh dear.
While Hofman is responsible for the original Rubber Duck, the knock-offs were created by construction companies or real estate companies as publicity stunts.
Traditionally, ducks apparently have nothing to do with Children’s Day in China. However, with the recent popularity of the Rubber Duck in Hong Kong, the day seemed as good as for a fleet of giant inflatable ducks. Then again, when isn’t a good day for that?
大黄鸭六一空降武汉遭遇调侃 名噪世界的‘大黄鸭’来武汉了 [591hx]
六一节常州街头惊现小黄鸭 [tt.mop]
萌神“来袭” 盘点各版山寨“小黄鸭” [MSN中文网]
Pictures: 16fan, Eastday, 591hx, Sohu, chesi, 京华网, 环球网, SouthCN, Iszed, Sina, ShanghaiIst
Comments
8 responses to “There Are Too Many Giant Fake Rubber Ducks In China”
Nope i’d say there just aren’t enough giant rubber ducks in Australia
Cargo cult rubber ducks.
Anybody else read that headline in the voice of the dad from that old Telstra ad? “Too many rabbits in China”
I heard that they have been banned mentions of the duck from Weibo because of this:
http://beijingcream.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Tiananmen-Duck-Man.jpg
you missed out the one that was in Brisbane, probably the same one that made its way to Sydney. Wasn’t that for a rubber duck race though?
What? China making cheap imitations of someone else’s work? Couldn’t be.
I’ve been down to the giant one in Hong Kong (which I think is now gone? Was going soon in any case). Its pretty hilarious this giant floating ducky with no visible indication of anything inside running it, its like someone really did just drop one in from their giant bathtub.
And when it was deflated one day for maintenance lots of people cried (and not just kids!). He looked like a big flat egg yolk.
I don’t think the artist is too concerned by the copyright. He designed it to bring joy to people and its done a surprisingly good job of it. He wouldn’t be able to sue or stop the Chinese anyway.