A spoof about Kim Jon-Un made it to a Chinese Communist Party online news source. Oops!
China’s People’s Daily duly reported that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un has been named “Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.” And that’s accurate–except that Kim was awarded the title by The Onion. It’s not the first time that a serious news outlet has been duped by the satirical Onion.
People’s Daily, the Chinese paper of record, quotes snippets of The Onion’s piece about the Supreme Leader. Kim “has that rare ability to somehow be completely adorable and completely macho at the same time,” reported the Daily, and “He’s a real hunk with real intensity who also knows how to cut loose and let his hair down.”
Past winners of The Onion’s annual “Sexiest Man Alive” competition include Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad, Bernie Madoff, and Ted Kaczynski.
Take a look at Hardball’s Sideshow for more on the “Sexiest Man Alive for 2012,” and another country that fell for an Onion spoof.