Hong Kong just won its first Olympic gold in 25 years, and IKEA is celebrating with some decidedly clever wordplay.
Mere minutes after fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long clinched the victory at the men’s singles event at the Tokyo Olympic Games Monday, IKEA posted a picture on Facebook of an advertisement for an artificial gladiolus flower at a slashed price of HK$39.90 (US$5).
Its Chinese description, which reads “artificial flower, gladiolus/white color,” has the character for flower, and the first character of “gladiolus,” highlighted. The two underscored characters read “foil fencing”—AKA the event that Cheung took home a historic gold medal in.
The post includes an English caption: “Although I am just a flower, I am proud to have the same initial as foil! Add “foil” Cheung!”
Facebook users praised the pun in the comments and joked that whoever is behind the wordplay deserves a raise.
“The manager of this page has been waiting all day for this second to post this,” another person wrote.
Others suggested that IKEA discount the artificial flower to HK$19.3, a reference to the 24-year-old’s height (Cheung is 193 cm tall).
Cheung’s achievements represent only the second time that the city has won a gold medal at the Olympics. The first was in 1996, when windsurfer Lee Lai-shan clinched the coveted title at the games in the US city of Atlanta.
Read more: Here are the Team Singapore athletes that have qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics so far
Reader Interactions