Judicial officials in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have had to withdraw a propaganda campaign that seemed to imply going to prison would result in gay sex.

The poster showed an image of a Chysanthemum next to a tattered looking Sun Flower labelled ‘before prison’ and ‘after prison’ with the slogan ‘Manzhouli People’s Court reminds city residents to abide by laws, or…’ above them.

Unfortunately, the officials were unaware that ‘Chysanthemum’ is a popular Chinese internet euphemism for ‘anus,’ leading to the impression among many that the officials were telling them that if they went to prison, they’d come out with a much wider… er… flower.

Photos of the poster campaign went viral all over Chinese social media, embarrassing the Manzhouli judicial officials so badly that the poster campaign was withdrawn.

The court [poster’s] original intention was to warn people away from prison because [imprisonment] takes away one’s best years of his life, like a fading flower,’ Manzhouli deputy propaganda chief Si Chuanshuang said in a statement posted on popular Chinese social media website Weibo.

‘Because of widespread pranks, the billboard has to be withdrawn. [I] hope all relevant sides can co-operate and delete these posts,’ he said.