Tug-of-war team wears funny meme masks at Ocean University in East China's Shandong province. Photo: Screenshot from video by Passion News

Members of a tug-of-war team tried to gain an advantage and distract their opponents by printing off full-sized viral meme faces which they donned just before the start of the competition at Ocean University of China in East China's Shandong province. 

A video posted by Passion News shows the team's first four players with masks strapped to their heads made of the most popular memes on Chinese social media, including retired NBA basketball great Yao Ming's "oh, please" meme.

The first player on the team is seen wearing the classic meme of a stern face that is used on social media to send a message saying "don't dare trespass." 

The tactic is praised by the person shooting the video who is heard saying, "this is hard-core…and this is the ace team."

The opposing team's reaction is not caught in the video which ends with the  players wearing the meme masks giving a roar of laughter to onlookers and their other teammates. 

The video has attracted many Chinese internet users' attention and has been viewed more than four million times as of Tuesday.

Many netizens thought wearing such hilarious masks at a tug-of-war is a brilliant idea as they will distract the competitors' attention. 

There were also netizens concerned that wearing masks may hinder the team members from seeing the situation during the competition. 

"This is a classic tug-of-war cheat," another netizen joked. 

Passion News