Summary

K.R.T. Girls

    Before I start to introduce K.R.T. Girls, I would like to introduce a concept call "virtual endorser". Endorser means the person who endorses a product.  As the name suggests, a virtual endorser is an endorser that is not a real person.  Recently, with the same reason of mascots, lots of companies start to create their virtual endorsers.  Another reason that virtual endorsers gain those companies' good grace is that virtual endorsers are more easier to be sell in the Otaku Market(御宅族市場), a kind of nerd.

From the left, Xiaoqiong, Amelia, Nana, Ann.
https://goo.gl/eNtpvb

    In 2014, Simon(希萌) proposed Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation(KRTC,高雄捷運股份有限公司) created a full marketing strategies with virtual endorsers.  Then K.R.T. Girls was created.  There are four members in K.R.T. Girls, station attendant Xiaoqiong(小穹), driver Amelia(艾米莉亞), train maintenance engineer Ann(婕兒), and customer service Nana(耐耐).

Poster that ask people not to eat or drink inside the station.
https://goo.gl/DlWWBE

    With the marketing strategies make by Simon, K.R.T. Girls start to participant in lots of anime-related activities.  K.R.T. Girls also published their light novels, computer games, and theme songs.  With these virtual endorsers, lots of people stated to concern about Kaohsiung MRT.  For example, KRTC once put a cardboard cut-out of Xiaoqiong, and that attracted about 11000 people only to take a look of the cardboard.

Painted cart.
https://goo.gl/Lw4lTB

K.R.T. Girls have their computer game.
https://goo.gl/PS8pG9

Open Chan

    Open Chan(Open 小將) is the mascot of 7-11 Taiwan, a chain convenient store.  Open Chan was created by Dentsu Inc.(電通), one of the biggest advertisement company in the world.  Open Chan had a family and lots of friends also created by Dentsu Inc in 2005.

Open Chan and its friends and family.
https://goo.gl/ndXjXS

    Open Chan and his friends came from the Open Planet.  At first, Open Chan had its crown red, green, and orange, represented the image color of 7-11.  The color was changed to green, red, and blue when Open Chan was five years old.  According to Open Chan's fan page, blue means dream, red means love, and green means courage.

Open Chan.
https://goo.gl/RxZZ2S

    Open Chan and its friends was really famous in Taiwan.  President Chain Store Corporation, the company which owns 7-11, had held parades with Open Chan as the topic once a year from 2006 till 2013.  7-11 also sold a lot of  merchandise of Open Chan.  In 2015, Open Chan even had its movie "Open! Open!".

Tatung Man

    Tatung Man(大同寶寶) is the mascot of Tatung Company, a company makes electronic products especially electric stewing pot. Tatung is the first company who use a mascot as a marketing strategies in Taiwan. Tatung had its mascot since 1969. Over four decades, Tatung Man has already been connected tightly with Tatung Company.

Tatung Man.
https://goo.gl/xIdRSC

    The reason Tatung created Tatung Man was that in 1969, people started to replace monochrome television with color television. Almost at the same time, Tatung created "Tatung song" as the theme of their advertisement.

    In the 70's, you got a Tatung Man only if you had spent over 10000 dollars buying Tatung's products. Therefore, Tatung Man was once considered as the symbol of one's purchasing power.
    The number in front of Tatung Man's breast was considered representing the year this Tatung Man was made in Minguo calendar(民國紀元). But actually it represented the age of Tatung Company when the Tatung Man was made.

This Tatung Man was made in Minguo 80 (1991).
https://goo.gl/xIdRSC

Wenlock and Mandeville

    Wenlock and Mandeville are the mascots of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. Wenlock and Mandeville were created with the concept of iron and the impression of London.

Wenlock (right) and Mandeville (left).
https://goo.gl/7KcECf

     Wenlock was named after Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England. The place where held Much Wenlock Game which is considered as the inspiration of the Modern Olympic Games. And Mandeville was named after Stoke Mandeville Hospital. The one which  Sir Ludwig Guttmann worked at. Sir Ludeig Guttmann was known as the person who established the Paralympic Games.
    If you take a look at Wenlock carefully, you may find out that there are lots of details in Wenlock. For example, the eye of Wenlock was inspired from the headlight of London Taxi. The contour of Wenlock's head was actually the shape of the stadium. And those three peaks on its head represented the three medals that competitors may win in each event.

How they were created.
https://goo.gl/ZTsLJe

    You can see that Wenlock and Mandeville were actually mascots that was created with lots of ingenuity. Wenlock and Mandeville were still being criticized because of their terrible appearance. The Globe And Mail once said that Wenlock and Mandeville are "a drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and a Dalek."[1]

Wenlock and Big Ben.
https://goo.gl/1MPPQn

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Zushihocky

    In most people’s understanding, mascots are always cute and adorable. In fact,  NOT every mascot has a lovely appearance. In my first article in my blog, I mentioned that mascots are actually marketing strategies. No matter how ugly or weird the mascots look like, if they are capable to catch public’s eyes, they are considered successful mascots.

    In 2013, Hokuto-shi, Hokkaidō(北海道北斗市), Japan, held a mascot election to market the city since the first part of the Hokkaidō Shinkansen stopped in Hokuto-shi. And this why Zushihocky(北寄貝壽司君) was created. Zushihocky was created based on the concept of the hokki gai sushi(北寄貝壽司，ホッキガイすし), which is a famous food of Hokkaidō.

Hokki gai sushi.
https://goo.gl/RFnkmC

    Zushihocky’s looks is so horrify that lots of people complain it will scare children. However, still a lot of people love Zushihocky.

Zushihocky.
https://goo.gl/Guz79O

https://goo.gl/8doMcs

Zushihocky Konbu(昆布).
https://goo.gl/xqesP8

Da-e And Donkey

    Da-e(大義) is the mascot of the baseball team EDA Rhinos. Its friend Donkey(唐基), one of the mascot of EDA Theme Park, sometimes comes to the baseball game, cheering for the EDA Rhinos, too. Da-e is a blue rhino and Donkey is a donkey just like its name. Although EDA Rhinos establish in 2013, medias and some fans considered Da-e and Donkey "the best mascots of CPBL ever."

Da-e and Donkey.
https://goo.gl/nc9DqH

    Donkey soon became popular because of its characteristic and its appearance. Da-e, the truly mascot of EDA Rhinos, however, didn't be as popular as Donkey at first. In 2013, EDA Rhinos signed with Manny Ramirez, and EDA Rhinos started to sell Da-e's doll with dreadlocks. After that, Da-e's fame started to rise.

Da-e with dreadlocks.
https://goo.gl/TrWV5Y 

    With well marketing strategies, Da-e and Donkey become very popular. They even had a tug-of -war competition with the cheerleading squad. Especially Da-e, with its dancing skills and interaction with fans. It is now considered as the funniest mascot of CPBL.

Da-e and coach 徐生明.
https://goo.gl/8qu2o6

Funassyi

    Almost every mascot in the world is designed as a cute and kind character to catch more people's eyes.  There is a mascot that walks on a different way.  Funassyi(船梨精) is a mascot of  Funabashi-shi, Chiba-ken(千葉縣船橋市), Japan.  Not like other mascots are created or accepted by the organizations which they represent.  Funassyi is an unofficially mascot.

Funassyi.
https://goo.gl/C8tyR2

    Funassyi was created at November, 2011 by a Funabashi-shi citizen.  The designer spent about 30000 yen, making a puppet suit of Funassyi.  Because the puppet suit is too cheap, Funassyi looks cruder and more threadbare than other mascots.

Crude appearance.
https://goo.gl/15rtwt

    Funassyi was not accepted by the Funabashi-shi government, so the designer had to play the role by himself/herself.  Funassyi started to become popular after Funassyi it appeared in an advertisement of  Juurokuchya(十六茶).  The unique characteristics attract the public.  Finally, Funassyi win the championship of the 2013 Japan mascots election.

Funassyi win the championship of the 2013 Japan mascots election.
https://goo.gl/0OBlNd

   

Kumamon

    Kumamon, the mascot of Kumamoto-ken(熊本縣), Japan, was created in 2010 by Kunndou Koyama(小山薰堂) and Manabu Mizuno(水野學).  With great marketing strategy, Kumamon is now considered as the most famous mascot in the world.

Kumamon.
https://goo.gl/lKFIJw

    At first, Kumamon was thinner and taller, but it was too skinny to be accepted by the public.  Thus, the Kumamoto-ken government redesigned Kumamon.  Kumamon is now in the third version.  With a chubby look Kumamon soon became a very popular mascot in Japan.  It went to a lot of place in the world and participated in a lot of activities.

Three versions of Kumamon.
http://p.twipple.jp/3zRma

    Kumamon is also famous with its funny acts.  It is a bear that can do almost everything.  For example, he dances, goes fishing, cooks, and even goes bungee jumping.  It is also an horny bear that sometomes harasses girls.  Kumamon is such a lovely character.  Even the queen of Japan is Kumamon's fan.  How can you not like it?

  

What is And What Mascot Does

   Mascot is a character that represent a sightseeing spot or an organization just like an endorsement, but a virtual one.

Mascots from Taiwan.
https://goo.gl/gMgPVE

    There's no evidence to say which was the first mascot through the history.  We just knew that mascots were first used by sports teams as an icon (usually animals) to increase entertainment and to be more easier to be recognized.  According to Wikipedia, the first official mascot of  Olympics is Waldi the Dachshund, which was created for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. 

Waldi the Dachshund.
https://goo.gl/nyLaKw

    Recently, mascots catch everyone's eyes with they're cute and funny look.  This makes mascots an excellent way to marketing almost everything.  Tourist attractions, sports teams, public transportation systems, and even agricultural produces have their own mascot.  Mascots do so much effect on economy that there even has a school teaching people how to be a professional mascot.

Student of Choko Group, a mascot school in Japan.
https://goo.gl/15ikPS