The Hong Kong Fire Service Department has a new mascot. And personally, we think they really blue it.
Meet “Yam Ho-yan,” a faceless, blue-suited man (we assume) who showed up to help the fire department launch their official Facebook page today. Because really, what helps a child learn safety tips better than a faceless creature that looks like it stepped out of a David Lynch fever dream?
At a press briefing held this morning, Yam — whose name is a pun on the Chinese word “anybody” (get it?) — helped demonstrate a range of fire prevention tips, and it wasn’t weird at all!
Yes, that’s Yam about to administer CPR. And if we ever wake up with that hovering above us, we’re pretty sure we’re going to flatline regardless of our gimp-like friend’s best efforts.
But not everyone was paying attention to how handy Yam was with a fire extinguisher or at performing CPR.
A lot of people thought the outfit must mean the fire department was filming a video with special effects, and that the mascot was wearing a blue-screen suit.
Others were simply flummoxed by the outfit’s curious choices. “What’s up with the shorts?” more than one commenter asked. Editor: It’s called being a “never nude,” people.
Quite a few thought someone had missed the memo that Halloween was over and that Yam was cosplaying as either a member of the Blue Man Group or Doctor Manhattan from DC Comics’ Watchmen.
Yam now even has his own Facebook page, which appeared online hours after he appeared at the briefing.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time the fully-clad blue man appeared in fire department promotional materials. In August, Yam appeared in a rap music video alongside a veteran Hong Kong actress to demonstrate how to perform CPR, although back then he wasn’t yet acknowledged as a fire department mascot.
