Taiwan has a new cultural ambassador.
Upon arriving at CKS last night I looked through the pamphlets the gummit is distributing to the tourists. One I hadn’t seen before is “Touch Taiwan!” which features “Mr. Tea.”
Mr. Tea is a man in black shoes, black pants, Chinese-style white shirt – and with a teapot (with two eyes) for a head. It looks for all the world like it belongs in a parody, perhaps in the liner notes for a Devo album. I haven’t been able to dig up any images from the Web. Please post, if you find some.
I’m sympathetic with the decision to adopt an image for Taiwan to help bring focus to the tourism industry, but the shot of having him tip his “hat” (teapot lid), revealing the empty teapot underneath, seems to best reinforce how empty-headed this choice was.
Here’s the “profile” given for him: “Mr. Tea; full name, Charly; birth date: July 21, 1776 [sic! – the Chinese gives 1976]; current employer: Tourism Bureau.”