China is embroiled in controversy over the production of a program suspected of plagiarizing our country's Netflix variety show 'Black and White Chef'.
Tencent Video, an OTT platform operated by the Chinese IT company Tencent, publicly launched its new variety show 'Yi Fan Feng Shen' on the 17th.
According to the Chinese portal site Baidu, 'Yi Fan Feng Shen' is a food competition variety show featuring 16 industry-leading chefs and 84 rookie chefs competing in cooking contests.
In particular, 'Yi Fan Feng Shen' has been criticized by netizens in China for its similar format to the domestic variety show 'Black and White Chef'.
The show features over 80 rookie chefs competing against a small number of famous chefs, the use of nicknames by rookie chefs, the black-and-white chef costumes, and famous chefs watching the competition from above, even down to the details of the stage and frame.
Chinese netizens have also expressed criticism, saying, "Are they really copying so blatantly?", "The filming techniques, competition system, and music haven't changed at all", "The Chinese entertainment industry criticizes and belittles Korean variety shows every day while plagiarizing", "How can they be so shameless?"
A representative from Netflix stated on the 23rd to Maeil Business Star Today, "We have not sold the rights of 'Black and White Chef' to China" and "We are currently discussing how to respond internally".
Meanwhile, 'Black and White Chef: Cooking Class War', released on Netflix last year, achieved the number one spot in the Netflix Global Top 10 Non-English category for three consecutive weeks, making it the first Korean variety show to win the Grand Prize in the TV category at the Baeksang Arts Awards. It was also selected for the Best Variety Show at the recently held Blue Dragon Series Awards.
[Kim Mi-ji, Star Today Reporter]
