Police Reassure Drivers M4 Signage Will Not Lead To Squid Game

If you're trundling along on the M4 and find yourself suddenly alarmed by some unexpected signage - fear not, you are not being diverted to Squid Game.

In case that makes absolutely no sense to you whatsoever, a little explanation.

Netflix

Squid Game is a South Korean drama series which dropped on Netflix last month and has taken the world by storm.

The show sees indebted citizens compete in a series of children's games, with a huge cash prize on offer for the winner, and death the price for losers.

The mysterious workers who operate the games wear masks marked with shapes - shapes reminiscent of those on a temporary sign at Junction 5 of the M4 in Slough.

These symbols also appear on the invitation cards for the game.

Netflix

Now, Thames Valley Police have taken it upon themselves to reassure drivers that taking a left at this point will not lead them to some kind of life or death game of hopscotch.

On Twitter, the roads policing unit said: "Evening all,

"So, We can confirm that by following this signage from the M4 Junction 5 in @TVP_Slough will not lead you to the popular @netflix series #SquidGame.

"It's just directions for diversion routes during the roadworks...phew!"

But while this sign may not be an example of Squid Game seeping into our reality, the show has had a number of real-world ramifications.

For example, viewers have been sending cash to a bank account used by protagonist Gi-hun.

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said in a recent interview with local media that the account belonged to one of the show's producers - but they have since decided to close it.

He said: "I heard that the producer has been receiving deposits in the amount of 456 KRW (£0.3/$0.38) from people who watched the show.

"To prevent further deposits from happening the production team decided to close the account to avoid potential issues in the future."

Fans of the show will recognise the significance of that sum. Gi-hun is known as player 456 and the total cash prize for the survival game is KRW 45.6 billion (£28 million/$38 million).

Netflix also had to edit out scenes featuring a person's actual phone number after curious viewers bombarded them with texts and calls.

Topics: Police, UK News, Funny, Squid Game

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey