Obama is Bin Laden, Suggests Chinese Video Game

One of China's most popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Fantasy Westward Journey (梦幻西游 Mèng Huàn Xī Yóu) has a unique new ad out suggesting… a whole new Bin Laden conspiracy.

In a conspiracy that beats all conspiracies, parent company Netease.com suggests — wait for it — that President Obama disguised himself as Osama Bin Laden in order to steal the famed terrorist's Fantasy Westward Journey gaming secrets (which were written on the bare thigh of a Bin Laden wife) before Seal Team 6 burst into the compound and faked Bin Laden's death, whisking the President safely away. Or just watch the commercial (at top).

The Fantasy Westward Journey game riffs on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West (西遊記).

The game's past ads have been far more conventional.

Of course the ad has gone viral in China. But this isn't the first time Fantasy Westward Journey has skirted with international diplomatic controversy.

In 2006, a Chinese Fantasy Westward Journey player was locked out of his account for employing the user name "Kill The Little Japanese." The incident, which coincided with the anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge incident which kicked off the last Japanese was on China, exploded into a scandal. Tens of thousands of users protested Netease.com and the brand was forced to do damage control.

The ad shows how different cultures interpret different historic events, personalities and milestones. What would never even make it to the pitch stage in the west is perfectly fair game in China.