Hainan shopping mall offers ‘shareable boyfriends’ for lonely shoppers

1 yuan for 1 hour of companionship

China’s sharing economy has now grown to include “shareable boyfriends.” It was really only a matter of time.

Over the Christmas holiday weekend, an innovative shopping mall in the Hainan city of Haikou stuffed six good-looking guys into oversized doll boxes. To get them out, customers had to scan a QR code and pay only 1 yuan, which would buy them 1 hour of shopping bliss with the ideal boyfriend.

During that hour, the guys would help you shop, carry around your bags, and even pretend not to be bored out of their minds.

The gimmick attracted quite the crowd to the Friendship Shopping Mall ahead of Christmas. All of the guys were mall employees, picked for their looks and height, 1.8 meters tall on average.

While customers were free to pose for photos with their “boyfriends” and make conversation, no touching was allowed. After the 60 minutes was up, they would immediately return back to their boxes to await their next partner.

Sadly, the promotional stunt appears to have been only a one-weekend thing.

One woman told reporters that she had rushed over to the mall after hearing about what was going on, confessing that she planned to snap a photo with her hunky new “boyfriend” and show it off to her friends on WeChat.

Over the past year, China has seen shareable bicycles, umbrellas, napping capsules, workout pods, luxury cars, stools, and basketball courts. Some of these ideas have been more successful than others. Back in September, a sex doll sharing startup was shut down just four days after its launch.

[Images via Hainan Friendship Shopping Mall]