There's been some strange graffiti in Salford over the years but this latest depiction, showing Peppa Pig drawing a hammer and sickle, while another Peppa holds a red flag by the slogan 'Communism is for the children' , has left many wondering what the hell it's going on about.
Like, since when did Peppa Pig get political? Since this summer, actually, when the popular kids' cartoon character was frowned upon in China, with even the #PeppaPig hashtag off limits.
In May, the Daily Mirror reported that 30,000 videos of the strange looking porker were removed from the Chinese version of You Tube, called Douyin, as she was associated with young people's 'shehuiren subculture'...
The state-run Global Times website denounced these youths as "poorly educated with no stable job...unruly slackers roaming around...the antithesis of the young generation the Party tries to cultivate...." The website added that the fad runs "counter to the mainstream value".
Young Chinese people took to Peppa in a kind of ironic way, as a subversive icon, which included creating weird memes and getting tattoos – which are linked to gangsterism - of the kiddies' favourite.
As Chinese investment takes over the development of Manchester and Salford, we like to think that this latest graffiti art is a comment on what's going on here. But people can read what they like into it, as Peppa Pig is catapulted into another political league...
The Peppa graffiti is high on the railway wall near Salford Central Station, opposite the Salford Arms and the Roast House cafe on Chapel Street.
There's also loads of videos about the China ban – see one here
This morning there was also the full meeting of Salford City Council, where almost nothing of any vitality happened, apart from the usual political grandstanding, so us at the Salford Star thought this was way more interesting!
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