TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — This bizarre advertisement for a chest surgery workshop featuring succulent baby back ribs slathered with sauce has gone viral in Taiwan.
On Friday (March 3), Twitter user Wendy Lee uploaded a photo of an advertisement for a trauma surgery and chest surgery workshop slated for March 25 at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taoyuan City's Guishan District. In her post, Lee asked Taiwanese Twitter users why a photo of barbecued ribs was included in a medical workshop poster and soon gained 305,000 views, 1,964 likes, 363 retweets, and 83 quote tweets.
The Taiwanese-American woman also took the opportunity to introduce a baked goods business that she is starting up with her French husband in Taichung. Lee told Taiwan News that the photo had actually been taken by her cousin during a recent visit to the hospital.
Twitter followers could not help but take a stab at the rationale behind the ad:
"Someone used the photo version of ChatGPT to make the flyer?"
"Saucy."
"Doctor, why is there a chili pepper on the operating table? Don't worry it's not for you."
"It's more appealing than seeing a human rib cage for sure."
"Rib dinner after chest surgery, that’s a tradition! Not."
On Sunday (March 5), Tu Cheng-che (杜承哲), an attending physician at Cheng Ching Hospital in Taichung, took to Facebook to weigh in on the ad. Tu wrote that generally speaking, the sequence of events is the opposite.
He wrote that every time a thoracic surgeon is invited to barbecue ribs at an American-style eatery, "someone (not necessarily me) will take the ribs and start researching where the muscles attach and the anatomy, and then start talking about surgery..."
Tu claimed that it is normal to think about rib surgery when seeing a rack of pork ribs. He suggested that the poster may be a case of self-deprecating humor on the part of surgeons.
As the poster is targeted at surgeons, he stressed that its creators did not intend to disrespect patients. Tu closed by stating if the ad makes patients feel disrespected and uncomfortable, Chang Gung will need to step forward and face the situation.
(Twitter, Wendy Lee photo)
Okay, Taiwan Twitter, explain this please. Why is there a picture of bbq ribs in the background of this ribs and chest surgery workshop at Linkou Chang Gung Hospital?! pic.twitter.com/ab1pK0mg4t
— Wanderlust Wendy (@wanderlustwlee) March 3, 2023
