Chinese tech startup asks women to send in photos of themselves for a chance to buy a smartphone

Chinese tech company OnePlus is holding a contest requesting that women send in photos of themselves in order to score an invite to purchase its wildly popular phone, the OnePlus One.

As part of the contest, women must either write the OnePlus logo on their body or hold up a piece of paper showing the company’s symbol. Only women are permitted to enter the competition, and the entrant with the most likes on her photo wins an invitation to buy the $300 OnePlus One.

The Verge first spotted the contest in OnePlus’ forums, and the web page has since been removed from OnePlus’ website.

Due to overwhelming demand, it’s extremely difficult to get your hands on a OnePlus One. The company has been having trouble filling orders so, you need to receive an invite before you can even consider buying it. Our own Steve Kovach received dozens of emails from readers trying to score an invite after he published his review of the phone.

The contest has only been in effect for a few hours, but it’s already sparked many negative reactions both in OnePlus’ thread and on Twitter. Many feel the rules of the contest are sexist, even though OnePlus tries to make it sound chivalrous with the language it uses.

Here are what some people have had to say so far: