Cute Taiwanese girls and the car market in Taiwan
There’s a strong culture amongst Taiwanese girls that cuter is better. This really hits you when one day you find yourself talking to some random girl who’s apparently twenty something, but you feel like you’re staring into the eyes of a twelve year old.
And I’m not just talking about looks either. There’s a hell of a lot of Taiwanese girls who have this mentality that it’s attractive to come across as a fifteen year old virgin who’s never spent a night away from her parents house before, even when you’re pushing your late twenties.
Over the past few months I’ve been questioning where this culture comes from. Some of the girls I’ve talked to just seem to have it inbuilt into them, I guess it was passed down by their parents or something. They just tell me that it’s normal and that they like being that way, the cuter the better. It’s like some weird competition.
The disturbing trend of increasingly female looking Asian guys making inroads to femininity probably isn’t helping either.
As a guy I can safely say I’m certainly not actively encouraging it. I can appreciate cute girls but there’s definitely an age line that some Taiwanese girls love to dance all over; sometimes it works and sometimes it’s just creepy.
I can’t comment on Taiwanese guys though as I’ve never talked to one about it. They don’t seem to fussed though to be zinging around Taiwan’s cities with girls who look like their little sisters on the back of their scooters though.
Finally, there’s the local media industry who definitely aren’t helping. I want to share with you an ad that’s been saturating Taiwan television lately.
(+10 beers to anyone who sits through the entire advertisement).
The ad is for a new car from Taiwanese car manufacturer Yulon Motor Company called the ‘tobe M’Car’. The above version is a full music clip, thankfully the ad on television is a cut version that only runs for about thirty seconds. I’m not sure if that means this is an actual official Taiwanese song or not though.
Part of me is secretly dreading walking into a bar one day and hearing the DJ crank this up
Despite the cutesy graphics and pre-school themes however, this isn’t an advertisement for little kids.
The legal age for driving in Taiwan is 18.
The only thing that marginally saves the M’Car ad is the little interlude about Facebook. I’ve got no idea what’s being sung but even this scene is shortlived before the girl (in her knickers) starts jumping around her living room in an outburst of random what-the-hell cuteness.
The tobe M’Car ad is aimed at young women, which is just disturbing. If Taiwanese girls are so easily distracted by a small flying elephant carrying a freaking giant lollipop, no wonder the driving in Taiwan is so bad.
What worries me is the success this ad campaign will have. Tobe have definitely done their research and this ad is going to have some massive appeal to a lot of young females over here. Whether that translates into sales or not I don’t know but at the very least it’ll re-enforce the stereotype.
The next time I’m walking arm in arm with a girl and she goes batshit crazy over some cute little dog she just saw I’ll know who to blame. And god help me if I ever get roped into going car shopping with a girl.
‘Yes sir this one’s got eight cylinders of sunshine, is hello kitty certified and comes with a free life sized Doraemon doll.
Optional extras include an extra 50% of dashboard space so you can display your complete collection of weird arse cutesy figurines, hundreds of star stickers and eighty three pounds of glitter sprinkled randomly over the interior.’
Thanks guys, not helping.
Related posts that might interest you:


May 4th, 2010 at 8:29 am Erica(Quote)
you seem disturbed and shocked! were your ex gf not like that? and was that girl at the first pic the girl ur seeing?
May 4th, 2010 at 11:02 am yi(Quote)
the fluffy toys on the dash board acts as a extra layer of safty during a accident.
May 4th, 2010 at 12:34 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
My ex was a bit into the cutesyness. Like she used to wear ribbons in her hair occasionally and some cute asian outfits, also had a bajillion keyrings on her keys. Had nothing on her dashboard though!
The level of crazy cuteness just went to a whole new level when I got here though, that’s what hit me. There’s nothing quite like jumping on the bike at 9am and seeing hottish girls selling betel nut dressed in mickey mouse or nurse outfits. Or walking around Taipei and seeing a three story photo booth built for the sole purpose of girls to go in and take cutesy posed photos for hours on end.
Or seeing girls go absolutely crazy over 7-11 vouchers so they can trade them in for some silly toys or something… there’s just so much over the top cuteness here with girls, it’s a bit much to take in sometimes.
No. I’ve got photos of night outs and whatever but I’ve decided not to publish any personal photos in the interest of fairness to the girls.
I’m currently not seeing anyone.
May 4th, 2010 at 3:33 pm Erica(Quote)
nursing outfit sounds… rather kinky thou.
May 4th, 2010 at 6:06 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Don’t get me wrong, it is but it’s also slightly creepy to see first thing in the morning.
Back home it’d be something you might see in a strip club or fantasy place or something. Seeing it on the side of some random road is a bit of an eye opener to the cutesy culture here.
May 5th, 2010 at 12:48 pm Leper(Quote)
“an extra 50% of dashboard space so you can display your complete collection of weird arse cutesy figurines”.
I remember regularly seeing cars like this in the university car park. It’s scary when the only space in the rear window that isn’t blocked by stuffed toys is obscured by P plates.
May 5th, 2010 at 6:11 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
I’ve seen some really weird dashboards over here. One girl took the standard ‘line of plastic toys’ to a whole new level with a figurine tea party on her dashboard. I kid you not, there was a circle platform and a bunch of figurines sitting on it.
It gave me something to look at as a passenger sure but when I brought it up in conversation all she could tell me was ‘No reason! it’s cute, it’s cute!’
What’s worse is when you see guys driving around with a dashboard of fluffy toys. I really don’t know what to make of that.
Are they driving their girlfriend’s/wives’ cars or are they just… well, Asian?
June 1st, 2010 at
[...] cute Jun.01, 2010 in food The level of cuteness in Taiwan continues to astound me. Clothing, car advetising and even digital cameras; it seems nothing is off limits to marketers wanting to take advantage of [...]
August 30th, 2010 at 8:41 pm Ralb38(Quote)
HAHA my bro forbid me to put any soft toys in my car for that very reason that, ‘only Asians do that!’. Or hang anything from the rear view mirror
April 21st, 2011 at 8:35 pm Pablo(Quote)
Hey I translated some of the parts into Chinese and posted on my Facebook wall, hope you wont mind, because I’m so fxxxing agree with you!
I’m Taiwanese but I hate people collecting super cute toys and super-cute-girl culture…
April 22nd, 2011 at 1:16 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Yeah no worries Pablo, translate to your heart’s content. I only ask that you link back to the original so that those who want to read the original can, cheers.
April 22nd, 2011 at 2:36 am Pablo(Quote)
Thanks!
Seriously your article caused a great sensation on my Facebook and in another forum… It let me know that it is not only me thinking in that way… but also many other people do so, but I guess they(we) have to hide their opinions in this society to not to be mean offensive to the “mainstream (super cute girls, etc.)”… you know Taiwanese live in a very peaceful island…haha
I came to Taiwan when I was 9yo, still am confused with some cultures here…
April 22nd, 2011 at 2:40 am Pablo(Quote)
by the way, what do you mean by “Taiwanese girls love to dance all over”? I don’t really understand…
April 22nd, 2011 at 2:53 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Glad you’re enjoying my work Pablo! Believe me, the cutsey girl culture is definitely something limited to Taiwan and it’s neighbours. Grown 20 something year olds behaving like they’re 5 is pretty much unheard of back in Australia (and elsewhere).
Personally I don’t hide my opinion (you can’t if you’re dating the girls here) but there are some elements of it which grow on you. Just have to embrace the difference in cultures as best you can!
Re. the dancing comment, it means that there’s a distinction between being cutsey and creepy, and that some Taiwanese girls blur that line so much that you can’t work out which side their on. To say someone is dancing all over the line of two ideas is a common English metaphor.
April 23rd, 2011 at 1:11 am Random Taiwanese girl who semi-stalked you to your page(Quote)
Oh god I’m so glad someone finally pointed this out!
I just had to reply – but not all Taiwanese girls are like that. Yes, we (the non-cutesy ones) are rare in Taiwan, and I think the reason for this stereotype is somewhat because perhaps maybe it’s just the girls you’re meeting.
There’s a certain type – ones who do all the cutesy stuff, put on makeup and possesses many accessories which pretty much are limited to pink (or a certain color to their liking), fuzzy, glittery, and just generally “cute” (as you well defined in your post). These are also the ones more prone to go out, go to clubs, talk to foreigners etc. If you ask they probably study some foreign language, media or society, something not in the scientific field.
The other type, which I have more contact with on a daily basis, spend most of their time in the lab, and when you’re in the lab, fake hair, eyelashes, rings, and other accessories get in the way, and can ruin your experiment, and besides there’s no one to impress in the lab other than your bald professor.
These girls are usually shot after a day’s work, and due to environmental factors, their chances of meeting a foreigner are slim.
So, after getting that out of the way, I thought I could win free beer but I lost at 0:29 when she turned and looked straight into the camera while singing. Thanks for reminding me why I don’t watch TV.
April 23rd, 2011 at 4:42 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Yeah there’s definitely the stereotype that like to go out… but whilst I think too much cute is a bad thing, too much non-cute is also bad.
The ‘lab’ girls you described don’t sound like much fun either. Why would you want to be around someone who’s tired all the time?
(foreigner or otherwise)
May 4th, 2011 at 3:47 am ava(Quote)
true that “cute” is more in asian girls then western. but what you mean is more on the girls who are “being cute” instead of the girls who are actually cute.
be honest, girls here acting cute because twnese guys like that. guys like that kind of girls so girls acting cute to attract guys. fair enough. actually it is not passed down from their parents but media or jpnese culture.
May 4th, 2011 at 12:51 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
I guess the greater question then is why do Taiwanese girls feel the need to completely create these artificial personas just to appease males?
May 4th, 2011 at 8:05 pm ava(Quote)
for sure, that’s the question i wonder too.
I guess that’s for the marriage market based on Darwin’s sexual selection. compare to western, twnese guys tend to care about girls’ appearance much more than personalities.
Therefore, to get more attention from guys or to get more selections of guys, girls try to “create these artificial personas just to appease males.” And it causes more “pretty” girls with bad temper, so called “princess syndrome”, come out.
May 5th, 2011 at 2:51 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Ah princess syndrome, my mortal dating enemy.
It’s always hilarious in hindsight when a Taiwanese princess meets the brick wall of ‘lol, no I’m not going to do everything for you and put you on a pedestal’.
At the time though it can be a bit of a rollercoaster…
From what I’ve seen, in Taiwan the same as anywhere else males flock to those that look attractive, regardless of their personalities (you worry about that later). Behaving overly cutesy is just going to attract the weirdos, of which in Taiwan there are oh so many (twenty something year old weird shit Japanese comic book readers I’m looking squarely at you).
May 6th, 2011 at 1:34 am Caffeinated SentryGnome(Quote)
the cutesy is starting to come to Australia, there has been increasing demand for pink laptops, phones and phone covers.
ive seen girls buy toasters because they are pink.
reminds me of the flashy animated letters that girls used to use in MSN messenger. i hated that soo much.
May 6th, 2011 at 11:44 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Hmmm… does that mean that obesity is then on it’s way to Taiwan…?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooo!
July 27th, 2011 at 11:04 pm C-Cube(Quote)
Cool Blog
.
But Japanese girls are the same. That song is from Mika:Lollipop
July 28th, 2011 at 1:07 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Yeah the Japanese have a lot to answer for when it comes to influencing Taiwan’s culture in a negative way. Korea isn’t too far behind either.
Seems the entire ad campaign is just a ripoff off that one song. Bugger the actual car itself, let’s just sell the cute factor and hope it makes us all rich!
December 10th, 2011 at 4:57 am chi(Quote)
lol. i blame it on the heavy influence of japanese culture in taiwan. It’s a pedobear heaven out here.