We’re not even going to question if you’ve seen that damn “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” video that’s been dominating the internet for the past few days.
Last night, the Hong Kong Police Force released its own parody of the ridiculously (emphasis on ridiculous) catchy song called “BBSB: Belt Buckle Seat Belt”, in an attempt to get people to fasten their safety belts, or whatever.
In the video, officers are seen dancing with their cool-guy aviators on and pretending to buckle their seat belts in a police van, while some poor bugger off screen repeatedly sings, “I have a belt. I have a buckle. Uh. Car seat belt.” There are also captions, which for some reason, don’t match the lyrics.
While we can’t fault the HKPF for their intentions — road safety is important! — the video has been met with disbelief, annoyance, and full blown anger online. Why, you ask?
Well, the clip was posted on Facebook on the second anniversary of the beginning of Occupy Central, the 79-day mass pro-democracy protests. Roughly an hour before the video was uploaded, people commemorating the event outside the government complex held three minutes’ silence to mark two years since police fired the first rounds of tear gas on protesters.
A netizen commented on the video saying, “The HK Police Force, whose image and trustworthiness have been ruined, released this promotion video around the 2 year anniversary of the Umbrella Movement… to ask people to buckle-up.”
Others chose to play the HKPF at their own game, by derisively parodying their parody (so meta, you guys).
“I have pepper. I have spray. I have pepper spray! I have police. I have baton. I have police baton!” said one person. Another sassy commenter suggested the force get the seven cops on trial for assaulting activist Ken Tsang to film a version, and proposed the lyrics, “I have a baton, I have sunglasses, uh, dark corner beating.”
One pedant, however, simply pointed out that the police hadn’t quite grasped PPAP’s simple structure. “I appreciate you trying but that isn’t how the song works,” he wrote, before including a helpful correction. “Seat. Belt. Uh. Seat belt. Buckle. Up. Uh. Buckle up.” Not quite, but A for effort.
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
