And finally… roe is me

The situation, dubbed “salmon chaos” by local media came about after Japanese chain Sushiro ran a promotion which ended on Thursday offering free food to any customer and five of their friends – if they changed their name.

Customers just had to show their ID card with the Chinese character for salmon (鲑鱼), transliterated as guī yú.

Among the new names were Can’t Help But Want to Eat Free Salmon, Salmon Prince, Meteor Salmon King and Salmon Fried Rice.

Officials, however, begged people to stop.

Deputy interior minister, Chen Tsung-yen urged the public to “cherish administrative resources”.

He added: “This kind of name change not only wastes time but causes unnecessary paperwork. I hope everyone can be more rational about it.”