Mascot Culture in Taiwan: From Bear Obsession to Pun-Powered Redemption

30-Second Overview: Taiwan once fell into a collective obsession with bears — at one point the island had dozens of black bear mascots, all vaguely similar in appearance. Then came the Milkfish Boy, ugly enough to land on American late-night TV; Chunghwa Post's "Popo Pigeon," which went viral through precise brand management; and the Welfare Bear, a commercial miracle pulling in over a hundred million NT dollars annually. Taiwan's mascots are now undergoing a fundamental shift from "cute props" to "character brands."

On December 3, 2013, a black bear wearing a white V on its chest and an orange cape quietly came into being on the internet. Six months later, it was officially appointed head of the "Super Task Group" for the Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications — its name: OhBear¹. This was not just the inauguration of a government mascot; it marked Taiwan's formal entry into the "mascot warring-states era."

Historical Depth: From the Tatung Baby to the First Professional Baseball Season

Taiwan's mascot culture did not emerge from nowhere. As early as 1969, Tatung Company created what would become the most iconic mascot in Taiwan's corporate history — the "Tatung Baby" — to promote color television sets². This small figure wearing a helmet and cradling a rugby ball was not only a corporate identifier but became a symbol of family prosperity in Taiwan's 1970s.

Then came 1990, the inaugural season of Taiwan's professional baseball league. The Brother Elephants, Mercuries Tigers, Uni-Lions, and Wei Chuan Dragons all took the field led by their mascots, pioneering sports mascot culture³. In those early days, however, mascots were mostly "giveaways" or "decorations" — lacking complete backstories or world-building.

Bears and Nothing But: Taiwan's Unique Black Bear Fixation

In Taiwan, if you don't know what mascot to design, a black bear is always safe. Statistics suggest Taiwan has created dozens of unrelated black bear mascots coexisting simultaneously across every sector⁴. From Bravo the Taipei Universiade bear to Kaohsiung Bear, V Air's V Bear, and the Ningxia Night Market Bear — black bears have become totems in Taiwan's collective consciousness.

But this "collective obsession" also generated an identity crisis. At the island-wide mascot face-off in 2016, Kaohsiung alone sent three different bears, leaving onlookers unable to distinguish "GaoGao Bear" from "Kaohsiung Bear."⁴

📝 Curator's Note: When every bear looks like "a Taiwan bear," they lose their uniqueness as brands — reduced to once-and-done event props.

Commercial Miracles: The Hundred-Million-Dollar Welfare Bear and Open-chan

Whether a mascot can "attract money" is the hard metric of brand value. The PX Mart "Welfare Bear" and 7-Eleven's "Open-chan" both had the same mastermind behind them: marketing wizard Liu Hung-cheng⁵.

At peak, Open-chan generated over NT$1 billion in annual revenue for President Chain Store, with licensing that even extended to co-branded limited-edition cars and theme parks⁵. The Welfare Bear, through the earworm jingle "Welfare Bear, Bear Welfare" and the Fruit Explorer IP operation, contributes approximately NT$200 to 300 million in annual sales to PX Mart⁶.

Liu points out that the key to managing an IP is building a "world." For instance, the Welfare Bear was set up as a curious boy who dreams of becoming a model store clerk, with a blood type of A — just like the PX Mart logo⁵.

Political Lives: Bravo on the Stand at City Council

When mascots enter the public sector, they are no longer just cute stuffed animals — they become "political creatures" subject to scrutiny over public expenditure. Taipei City Government's mascot Bravo is the most representative case.

In 2018, the Taipei City Tourism and Travel Bureau spent NT$1.13 million on a makeover of the original "Gold Medal Bravo" into "Ocean Bravo" to secure a trademark registration — triggering fierce questioning in the city council. Legislators accused the "makeover" of being bureaucratic excess and quipped: "How did you get so ugly?"⁷⁸

In addition, Bravo's budget-to-revenue ratio frequently became a flashpoint. In 2024, legislators questioned why Bravo had an annual marketing and maintenance budget exceeding NT$11 million while licensing fees and appearance income amounted to only about NT$400,000 — earning it the label "money-loser."⁹¹⁰

📝 Curator's Note: The tragedy of government mascots is that they must struggle between "city image" and "budget efficiency." When a mascot's monthly salary (computed from the budget) is higher than a city official's, its cuteness becomes a political liability.

Hong Fu: The Century-Old Good-Luck Emissary of Red House

In contrast to the political pressures on government mascots, Red House (西門紅樓) in Ximending's mascot "Hong Fu" (紅福) demonstrates how history can be turned into an adorable cultural asset. Debuting in 2024, Hong Fu is a red fox with lively eyes dressed in a band of architectural ornamentation that mirrors the Red House's exterior¹¹.

Hong Fu's design was not invented from thin air — inspiration came from the "Taipei Inari Shrine" (台北稻荷神社) that stood adjacent to the Ximen Market (today's Red House) during the Japanese colonial period¹². The fox, as the messenger of the Inari deity, was reimagined as the Red House's "Head of Hospitality." The white horizontal band on its body echoes the red-and-white scraped stone (洗石子) finish that characterizes the Red House's architecture¹³.

📝 Curator's Note: Hong Fu's success lies in historical research. It is not just a fox — it is the vessel of a century of Red House history. Through its "good luck" and "sustainability" settings, it successfully links an historic landmark with contemporary creative culture.

The Uglier the Better: B-Grade Attractions and the "Cute-Ugly" Counterattack

Against the current of chasing cuteness, a cohort of mascots took the opposite path — carving out a niche through "grotesque" and "cute-ugly" aesthetics. The most famous case is the Tainan Beimen Milkfish Boy, whose large black pupils and unsettling grin were rated "nightmare-level" by netizens — ugly enough to land on American late-night show Last Week Tonight¹⁴¹⁵.

The Penghu islands are a stronghold of cute-ugly mascots: from the Pearl Children to the Fresh Oyster and the Bikini Clownfish. These plasticky, strangely-shaped landmarks were widely criticized on debut, yet unexpectedly sparked viral photo-spot pilgrimages¹⁵.

Sabafish: The "Cross-Section" Aesthetic That Went Viral in Japan

Tainan's tourism mascot SABABOY illustrates how to go international through pure strangeness. This mascot, designed by illustrator Marco Chen Yu-jen, is a happy smile from the front — and a hyper-realistic fish head cross-section from the back¹⁶.

In June 2024, a Japanese netizen shared a photo of SABABOY's back view on X (formerly Twitter), attracting over 5 million pilgrimages¹⁷. This "bold, visually shocking contrast cute" quality made SABABOY go viral in Japan, becoming Tainan tourism's surprise weapon on international social media.

Popo Pigeon: A Legacy Government Brand's Soft Comeback

In contrast to the grotesque route, Chunghwa Post's "Popo Pigeon" demonstrates how precise brand management can breathe new life into an old-line government entity. Popo Pigeon was born around 2015; its round, chubby figure and Pisces personality — "hates being called fat" — quickly captured hearts on social platforms¹⁸¹⁹.

In 2024, a Chunghwa Post × I-Mei co-branded "Popo Pigeon mailbox stamp figure" gift box sold out in just 10 minutes²⁰. Popo Pigeon's success lies in escaping the stiff "postal service baby" image of traditional government branding — instead projecting a quality of "soft cute" combined with everyday relatability.

From the Death of "A-Long" to the Pun Salvation of CaiQi Duck

Mascots often derive their vitality from authenticity. In May 2024, the National Museum of Taiwan Literature's mascot "A-Long" was embroiled in a plagiarism controversy that ended with the museum apologizing and the subcontractor facing prosecution²¹²². The "death of A-Long" delivered a heavy lesson to Taiwan's public sector: mascots cannot be merely outsourced skins — they must possess legal and creative souls.

By contrast, the Tainan market mascot "CaiQi Duck" — which debuted in 2021 but exploded in popularity in late 2024 — charted a different path. This duck wearing an apron and a leaf on its head takes its name from a Taiwanese-language pun on "vegetable market" (菜市場)²³.

"I'm not a potato, not a kiwi — I'm CaiQi Duck." This endearingly daft self-introduction, combined with Taiwanese people's fondness for puns, sent this previously obscure duck viral on Threads and other social platforms²⁴.

Data and Current State: The Economics of Mascots

Challenges and Outlook: Refusing to Become "Generic"

Japan's mascot world once saw "mascot elimination arenas" emerge due to oversaturation — only characters with powerful memorable hooks could survive⁴. Taiwan now faces a similar challenge: many government budgets are spent on one-off designs without any long-term brand management.

"The key to mascot success is not being cute, but being 'real,'" noted service designer Lin Cheng-yi. Mascots should be important brand identifiers, not mere promotional tools⁴.

The Taiwan mascots of the future may not need more black bears — they need more characters like CaiQi Duck or Popo Pigeon, ones that make you break into a smile when you run into them on the street and want to tell your friends: "Hey, look at this one. So very Taiwan."

Further Reading

• Taiwan Variety Shows — Character design and audience interaction mechanisms in the entertainment industry
• Taiwan Memes — How puns, cute-ugly aesthetics, and contrast cute spread across Taiwan's internet
• PX Mart — The brand management and IP strategy behind the Welfare Bear
• Taiwan Black Bear — The biological prototype as cultural totem and conservation issues

References