Internet users mocked the “warm up” theme song for next year’s Taipei International Flora Expo for being “idiotic.”
The song, written by Chung Hung-yuan (鍾弘遠), deputy commissioner at Taipei City’s Department of Economic Development, drew online criticism soon after it was posted on the department’s official Web site.
The song repeats the lyrics “2010, 2010, Taipei International Flora Expo, 2010, flower, flower, flower, Taipei, Taipei ...” in eight different versions, including in Chinese and Taiwanese.
“Is this song a joke? It’s like some stupid song from a Stephen Chow (周星馳) movie,” Internet user “Fan Huati” said on social networking service plurk.com.
Internet user “Gloomy Bear” said the lyrics were meaningless and worse than songs written for small children.
In response to the criticism, Chung said the song was just a “warm up” tune and there would be an official theme song.
“The purpose of this song is to attract public attention and the reaction from Internet users shows that the song has been successful,” he said.
The city government’s previous promotional efforts for the expo also received bad reviews, with Taipei City councilors across party lines complaining that the T-shirts designed for the expo were “quite ugly.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chen Yu-mei (陳玉梅) said the color of the T-shirt, light yellow and blue, was not bright enough to attract attention, adding that the eagle pattern on the back of the T-shirt had no connection to the event.
“It’s quite ugly. I don’t understand the red eagle on the back of the T-shirt and I don’t think the T-shirt will help promote the expo,” she said during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council earlier this month.
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