Some People Who Changed Name To ‘Salmon’ For Sushi Deal Can’t Change It Back
By Mikelle Leow, 31 May 2022
Photo 36702025 © Marcelo Krelling | Dreamstime.com
Some sushi lovers would consider raw salmon to be a game-changer. Then there’s the other camp that would go so far as to call it a name-changer.
If they could be a fish, 331 people in Taiwan would be a salmon. As reported last March, these customers legally changed their names to homophones of the word salmon (gui yu) in response to an outrageous promotional deal set up by a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.
Sushiro, the chain behind this stunt, dared patrons to officially alter their names for entitlement to free all-you-can-eat sushi for an entire table.
Since Taiwanese law permits three name changes per person, some took up the chance to score a hearty feast. The campaign only lasted two days, but so spawned the year Taiwan saw a spike in registrations for names like “Salmon Dream,” “Dancing Salmon,” and “Handsome Salmon.”
But since Taiwanese law permits three name changes per person, others were left with no more chances to revert their legal names. Among them were people who’d belatedly discovered that their parents had already changed their monikers twice before. So instead of a stomach upset, those folks were left with an identity hangover.
According to the Guardian, a number of the Salmons capitalized on their newfound prestige by using their names to fish for social media fame, while others opened up their privileges to friends and invited them to share their all-you-can-eat meals for a small fee.
The Taiwanese government previously warned locals against the stunt, dubbed by the public as “salmon chaos.” Officials urged citizens to think rationally and keep the well-being of its paperwork-ridden federal workers in mind.
Of course, there were still diners who felt the offer of free sushi was too good to pass up. Now, Taiwan’s national parliament is deliberating on making an exception for these people to get their human identities back.
The government and opposition parties will debate over whether it’s necessary to process the name changes, with some members proposing more stringent measures like administration fee changes and cooling-off periods should a similar campaign emerge in the future.
[via The Guardian, Oddity Central, NextShark, cover photo 36702025 © Marcelo Krelling | Dreamstime.com]