Kim Jong Un was voted Most Sexiest Man Alive by The Onion and ended up as real news in China.
When China Believed Kim Jong Un Was Sexiest Man Alive
In November 2012, satirical news outlet The Onion published what seemed like an obvious joke: naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as their "Sexiest Man Alive for 2012." The piece was dripping with irony, praising his "chic short haircut" and "boyish smile." Most readers got the joke.
China's Communist Party newspaper didn't.
When Satire Becomes State News
The People's Daily Online—the digital arm of China's largest and most authoritative newspaper—ran the story as legitimate news. But they didn't just reprint a paragraph. They went all in, creating a 55-page slideshow of Kim Jong Un photos with glowing captions about the Supreme Leader's irresistible charm.
The slideshow appeared on the newspaper's homepage, where millions of Chinese citizens consume their government-approved news daily. For hours, the official position of China's state media was that a totalitarian dictator known for human rights abuses and threatening nuclear war was, in fact, devastatingly attractive.
The Onion's Victory Lap
When The Onion caught wind of what happened, they couldn't resist. The publication updated their original article with a new line: "For more coverage on The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive 2012, Kim Jong-Un, please visit our friends at the People's Daily in China, a proud Communist subsidiary of The Onion, Inc. Exemplary reportage, comrades."
Editor Will Tracy called the incident "delightful," which might be the most restrained response possible when you accidentally trick the world's most populous nation.
This wasn't even China's first rodeo. In 2002, the Beijing Evening News published another Onion article claiming the U.S. Congress wanted a new Capitol building and might abandon Washington D.C. They ran that as real news too.
Why Did They Fall For It?
Several factors made this possible. Chinese state media operates under strict government control, and journalists may have limited familiarity with Western satirical outlets. The Onion's deadpan delivery—complete with professional photos and serious-looking layout—mimics real news so effectively that even media professionals can miss the joke without cultural context.
There's also the political angle. North Korea is China's ally, and positive coverage of Kim Jong Un aligns with state interests. When a story confirms what you want to believe, critical thinking sometimes takes a backseat. The fact that the story was absurd might have mattered less than the fact that it was flattering.
The incident became a global news story itself, covered by NPR, CNN, TIME, and countless other outlets. The People's Daily eventually removed the slideshow, but the internet is forever. Screenshots and archives preserve this moment when satire briefly became Communist Party propaganda.
The Onion's Accidental Diplomacy
The Onion has fooled countless readers over its decades of operation—politicians, news anchors, and regular folks who share articles without reading past the headline. But fooling an entire government's official media apparatus? That's a special achievement.
Kim Jong Un, for his part, never publicly acknowledged being named sexiest man alive by either The Onion or Chinese state media. One can only imagine the diplomatic briefing: "Supreme Leader, the Americans are mocking you, and our Chinese allies... they think it's real."
