As the saying goes: “Fake it till you make it.” But, netizens weren’t too happy to discover property developers in China were following that adage, especially since many of them have been fooled by it!
Most tend to have certain criteria when buying a property, such as its location, transportation and living facilities. However, in an attempt to meet those needs, property developers have taken to ‘faking’ businesses on their properties. In turn, it has irritated netizens who’ve fallen for it.
Reportedly, China’s property market has been in a slump recently and in an attempt to draw in customers, developers have apparently been plastering signage of branded eateries and convenience stores in their commercial street space. Allegedly, the scheme is meant to create a façade of living facilities.
However, according to netizen “跳海大院”, netizens from Guangzhou have been complaining about the phenomenon and how it has even fooled them. Apparently, some spotted a McDonald’s sign in the distance while driving on the highway and drove seven to eight kilometres to grab a meal. Unfortunately, to their surprise, the “McDonald’s” they saw was a hollow fake.
The assumed “McDonald’s” was found on a commercial street in an unfinished housing estate. The decoration of the store and the shape of the sign were exactly the same as McDonald’s. But, they did note that the letters in the name were slightly different and the inside was empty. Others claimed they too had been fooled, with one even claiming to have seen a street full of vacant storefronts with fake signs.
Another netizen who claimed to have been a real estate agent for over five years explained high-end properties often used this method to attract investment. For example, 7-Eleven signs would be plastered on the storefronts, and glass windows and doors would have decals showing the interior of the store. It’s supposedly enough to give the façade of an actual store, open for business.
On the other hand, low-end properties would resort to modifying the signages slightly before plastering them over the street. This has supposedly led to netizens finding some humour in the situation as several have pointed out their creativity in changing brand names, such as “Starbucks” to “Starbuoks”, “Burger King” to “Burger Ring” and “KFC” to “KCF”.
Well, that’s certainly one way to get attention. We can definitely sympathise with those who have unfortunately been fooled, but on the bright side, their phoney names have certainly made several netizens’ day!
Sources: China Press, 小红书
