We have often heard there is no such thing as bad publicity.

A zoo in China once again proved that notion this week when a controversy arose over one of its bears.

Video of a Malayan sun bear named Angela went viral on social media after some viewers suggested it might not be real. In the video, the bear stood on its hind legs and stretched out its neck while facing visitors.

Internet sleuths questioned the bear’s authenticity as when it stood up, “it looked like someone wearing a bear suit,” one viewer reported.

The zoo fought back immediately telling people because the facility is “run by the government,” that would never happen. That reminds me of a borough council meeting I covered over a decade ago in another area when the council president answered a question with one of my favorite lines, “trust the government.”

Zoo officials also said the bear couldn’t have been a human because temperatures reached over 100 degrees, a point where nobody could put on the fur suit for more than a few minutes without lying down.

Whether the bear was real or not, the zoo benefited greatly from the publicity. It put out a statement, which included a quote from the bear.

“Some people think I stand like a person,” the bear said. “It seems you don’t understand me very well.”

Sun bears are relatively small with largest ones coming in at only 50 inches tall when standing on their hind legs.

Members of the press were invited to view the bears and their articles had an impact.

Attendance rose by 30% to about 20,000 people a day, with some people traveling overnight to get an in-person look at the internet sensation.

For now, all is well as the zoo rakes in the cash and we trust the government. When the extra visitors catch the bear taking a smoke break or drinking a Starbucks Frappuccino to stay cool, however, I feel like we may be revisiting this story.