Spartan warriors in Beijing? P.R. stunt brings out police

Scores of bare-chested spartan warriors marched through Beijing’s streets, drawing swarms of admirers, picture-takers — and then suddenly, police.

A local salad restaurant’s marketing stunt went awry Wednesday afternoon when public security officials detained some of the muscular male models — each dressed in sandals, shorts and flowing black capes — that the eatery had hired to muss up enthusiasm in the city’s bustling commercial districts.

Photos posted online showed the men standing in formation in the posh Sanlitun shopping area; pictures apparently taken soon afterward showed two of them lying on a pedestrian flyover, police having wrestled them to the ground.

The Beijing Youth Daily newspaper said that police detained the models for “causing a public disturbance” after they failed to heed several warnings to disperse. The restaurant, Sweetie Salad, had not secured a permit to organize the event, the newspaper reported.

Most of the models were Russians, according to a public relations professional with knowledge of the incident who requested anonymity while discussing the sensitive incident.

None of the models could immediately be reached for comment.

Sweetie Salad apologized in a statement posted to its microblog. “After yesterday’s incident, we have come to realize that we lack experience in coordinating major events as a start-up company,” it said. “We have worked out all misunderstandings with the police.”

The Beijing public security bureau wrote on its official microblog that it had received a “mass complaint” about the crowd Wednesday afternoon and “immediately” dispatched officers to the scene.

The incident quickly became a hot topic on the country’s most popular microblog, Sina Weibo.

“300 Spartans were no match for the Beijing police!” said one widely forwarded post.

“This marketing campaign was really a failure — everybody was paying attention to the Spartans, but nobody even know what product they were trying to promote,” wrote user Josiah Deng.

Beijing police have been on guard this year amid a wide-ranging effort by President Xi Jinping’s administration to limit freedom of speech and the activities of civil society. In recent months, authorities have canceled a craft beer festival, several music festivals, a boxing match and an awards ceremony to promote young Chinese artists.

Chinese police detained at least four people this week after a sex video shot in a Uniqlo fitting room went wildly viral online. Millions of Internet users responded to the video with delight, and the store — also located in Beijing’s Sanlitun area — has become a popular spot for taking selfies.

Authorities reprimanded social media sites for allowing the video to gain traction, claiming that it violated China’s “core socialist values.”

Tommy Yang in The Times’ Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

Follow @JRKaiman on Twitter for news out of China