Less than a week after it launched to considerable fanfare, a controversial Nepalese tourism campaign centered around a cartoonish depiction of the Yeti has been canceled. The 'Visit Nepal' promotion kicked off last week when a series of sizeable statues of the legendary cryptid, intended to be placed throughout the country, were unveiled to the public. Almost immediately, people began crying foul over how the seven-foot-tall sculptures looked more like sumo wrestlers than the mysterious creature said to lurk in the Himalayas.
Although it initially seemed that the Nepalese government was committed to continuing the campaign despite the artistic criticism, the promotion soon also became problematic for religious groups in the country because there were deities painted on some of the statues, which led to a somewhat surprising response from the public. "Many people have begun to worship the figures as deities, but the Yeti is a mystical beast," a heritage activist told a local news outlet, "this has damaged the religious feelings of the people."
More on this strange story at the Coast to Coast AM website.