User:Colipon/BMW

"I would rather cry in a BWM" is a notorious phrase that became an online sensation in the People's Republic of China in 2010 following its utterance by glamour model Ma Nuo on the dating show Fei Cheng Wu Rao (also known in English as If you are the One). The phrase was in response to a question by a suitor who asked if Ma would "ride a bicycle with him" on a date. The series of events have been summed up in the media with the epithet "I would rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle.".

In interviews after the show, Ma poignantly denied that she is a "gold digger" - saying that she "just wanted to reject [her suitor] in a creative way." Nonetheless, the phrase has made its rounds across the Chinese blogosphere, and has become emblematic of the culture of materialism and lack of authenticity that now permeates Chinese society, particularly in the process of dating and courtship. The blunt nature of the statement works well in the dating show's format, and is not the first controversial phrase to arise out of Fei Cheng Wu Rao. It was cited by critics as a window to the "degradation of Chinese social values," and even drew the attention of government censors, who eventually forced producers to re-design the format of the show to be more professional and 'clean' of morally questionable content. The phrase also earned notoriety fro Ma, whose purported pictures began surfacing all over the internet.