Back in May, we wrote about female cosplay models at this year’s Fanime Con in San Jose dipping their feet in buckets of fruit juice and lemonade and then selling it to thirsty (pun intended) young men. Earlier this month, similar scenes were reported at a cosplay convention in Guangzhou, China.
The main highlight of this year’s “Firefly Comic Con” held in Guangzhou, China, from July 17 to 20 was the lemon-flavored foot bath water and cola foot bath water sold by a number of female cosplayers outside the venue. Priced at 50 yuan ($7.50) per plastic cup, the disgusting concoction could not satisfy demand, as dozens of thirsty men lined up to try it.
Photos and clips featuring female cosplayers soaking their feet in plastic containers filled with lemonade and cola outside the exhibition hall and holding up signs to attract people interested in buying the “foot juice” have been doing the rounds of Chinese social media for the last couple of weeks.
Reportedly inspired by the “feet juice” trend sparked at Fanime Con in San Jose earlier this year, China’s version proved just as popular among young men, with video evidence showing them scooping the feet-steeped drinks straight from the containers and drinking them to the cheers of a crowd of onlookers.
Some videos show thirsty patrons holding the cosplayers’feet up so that the feet juice could drip straight into their mouths, or even licking the liquid straight off of their feet. The disturbing scenes sent shockwaves through Chinese society, with many people condemning it as a corruption of Chinese values.
In response to the public outcry, the organizers of the Firefly Comic Con stated that the cosplayers involved had been expelled from the venue and that such vulgar booths would be explicitly prohibited from reappearing in the future. Judging by the popularity of the “product” and the attention this “feet juice” trend continues to attract, our bet is that we’ll be seeing more of it in the future.
