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How would you celebrate your child’s sweet sixteenth? A low-key dinner with close family? A big bash for them and all their friends? Or perhaps plastering their face across billboards all over town? One Chinese father decided to go for the latter option…

On December 17 motorists travelling a stretch of highway S208 running through Quanzhou in Fujian Province, China, were surprised to find the face of a sweet young boy staring down at them and welcoming them to his birthday party.

The billboards along the stretch of road were all plastered with images of the young man and the text ‘welcome to my 16th birthday party’. People who spotted the signs uploaded photos to the web and a debate ensued. Some people thought it was a really original way to celebrate a birthday while others criticized it as an over-the-top stunt.

The father of the boy on the posters later spoke to media outlets about the unusual stunt: “I am a trader. The ads are to celebrate my son’s birthday,” he said. “My son is in his third year of middle school and will soon have his 16th birthday, and I want to celebrate my son’s birthday together with family and friends.” In response to the criticism that rich people use their for selfish things like this, he said that “[the] billboards were erected by my company and I only spent 1,600 Yuan (US$257) to re-cover 16 boards. After the party they’ll be returned to normal.”

I have to say that I’m not sure hundreds of random motorists come into the category of his son’s ‘family and friends’, but each to their own. However, this is just the father’s perspective and there’s been no word from the son as of yet; for all we know he’s thrilled with the gift.

What do you think of this? If you’ve ever watched the show My Super Sweet 16 then you’ll know that there are definitely kids out there who would probably be annoyed that it was only 16 boards rather than 1,600. But if you were 16 years old and your parents did this for you would you be happy and grateful or just painfully embarrassed and angry that you were now the laughing-stock of the school?

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Source/images: Livedoor News via Toychan Net