If you've been living on Planet Earth anytime during the past 20 years, you've probably watched an episode or two of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Originally hitting screens in Britain back in September 1998, the quiz show is now practically a staple of TV, and can often be heard in the background in any respectable household.
The show - currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television - sees contestants tackle a series of multiple choice questions in order to win a large cash prize (normally a million of the local currency), with the help of three lifelines.
Typically, participants of the gameshow could answer the first three or four questions with their eyes closed, given how simple they normally are. So everyone was confused when a young contestant on the Turkish incarnation of the quiz show was completely and utterly baffled by a question that would have a case for being one of the easiest questions ever asked on the show.
For the fourth question in her quiz - which was worth 3.000 Turkish lira - 26-year-old Su Ayhan was asked 'Where is the Great Wall of China?'. Presented with the options of China, India, South Korea or Japan, you'd think she would have answered straight away, given that the answer was literally in the question.
However, the young contestant seemed flummoxed and resorted to using up her 'Ask the audience' lifeline. However, it quickly emerged that, incredibly, many audience members weren't so sure either. When asked 'Where is the Great Wall of China?' only 51 per cent of the people in the audience said the famous landmark was in China.
Was it that hard a question? Perhaps so, given the fact that after the people watching the show failed to help her out, Su then opted to sacrifice yet another of her three lifelines. This time, she use the 'Phone a friend' lifeline - but did her buddy know the answer to the seemingly simple question...?
Luckily, the answer was yes, with her chosen helping hand confirming that the Great Wall of China is, in fact, in China, saving Su from any further embarrassment. Nonetheless, the damage was done. Immediately after the episode aired, the 26-year-old reportedly became a laughing stock in Turkey, with many viewers finding her inability to answer the question hilarious.
Ahmet Hakan, a columnist for the English language Turkish publication The Hürriyet Daily News, blamed Turkey's education system, writing on 6 August: "I hope many people in the audience failed to answer the question thinking it was too easy to be asked, setting a trap. Otherwise, this huge ignorance problem cannot be solved, even with our new Education Minister Ziya Selçuk."
So, what did Su have to say in response to the haters? She kept her defence short and simple, claiming: "I could use my lifelines whenever I wanted."
Unfortunately for her, she didn't do much better when she eventually got past the Great Wall of China question, getting the very next question wrong (which was about the composer of a popular song in Turkey).
Never mind Su, you'll get your Slumdog Millionaire streak one day.
