A newly opened hair salon in Guizhou, China, named ‘Supreme Hair Court’ (a wordplay on ‘Supreme Court’) with the slogan ‘Tackling the Top Priorities of the People,’ originally intended as a humorous and pun-laden marketing campaign, found the joke short-lived. Less than 24 hours after opening, humor turned to horror as the local market regulatory authorities stepped in, ordering the shop to change its name and remove its signage.
According to Chinese media reports, the ‘Supreme Hair Court’ salon in Renhuai City uploaded an opening promo video to short video platforms on the evening of the 14th. The entrance was lined with flower baskets and a large banner reading ‘Grand Opening Promotions,’ with services including hair styling, perming and dyeing, and makeovers. A slogan underneath the store sign read ‘Tackling the Top Priorities of the People,’ drawing many online comments who joked, ‘That's so clever.’ However, some netizens questioned the name as well, saying it immediately reminded them of the ‘Supreme Court,’ and worried it might violate regulations.
On the morning of the 15th, the director of the Yanjin branch of the Renhuai City Market Supervision Bureau personally visited for an inspection and ordered ‘immediate rectification,’ requiring a change of the store name. Within hours, the signboard was taken down.
Some lawyers pointed out that according to China’s ‘Regulations on the Administration of Enterprise Name Registration,’ while businesses have the right and freedom to choose their names, their names ‘must not use or disguise the names, abbreviations, or specific titles of Party, government, or military organizations.’ Furthermore, business names ‘must not violate public order or good customs, nor cause other adverse effects.’ Names must also not be liable to deceive or mislead the public.
In fact, this kind of borderline pun is not new. As early as 2007, hair salons in Liaoning and Guangxi also adopted names such as ‘Supreme Hair Court’ and ‘People’s Hair Court,’ and were likewise ordered to change names due to sensitive wording.