Weibo Roundup: Weather or Not

Guangdong has been finding interesting ways to present the weather lately. First were the dancing girls and then came the bikini weather girls. Though the bikinis have already been put away, the Weibo chatter continues.

A Guangdong channel hired a group of girls to dance in the background of their weather forecast, perhaps to distract viewers from the depressing reports of hot, humid weather and smog. The station plan to hire pretty girls was met with highly skeptical reactions on Weibo. Sample response: “What are you saying? They are all so ugly!”

After that, the channel hired several bikini girls to take over the weather forecast section for the Euro 2012 host cities. The public reception of this stunt was split. Those in favor stated, “You guys in GD are so lucky,” while the less-impressed pointed out: “If you don't have a pretty face, you don't look attractive no matter what you wear.”

The station cancelled the bikini girls and issued an apology for their decision to mingle meteorology and skin after a number of news outlets called out the station for its poor judgment. The People's Daily said: "Inviting bikini girls to deliver weather reports is simply an unwise stunt" while an online poll showed 58.5 percent (of 3,645 respondents) believed that “hiring the models was a 'vulgar' decision and demonstrates a lack of social responsibility.”

Of course, the station did have some fans on Weibo: “Don't have to apologize, many soccer fans find it entertaining, all changes will be questioned at first, I like it.” Others are simply asking for a return of the bikinis.

Photo: news.sina.com.cn