While lucky charms and talismans are very much integrated into Chinese culture, some auspicious products simply reflect the strong hopes and wishes parents have for their kids.
Video script:
A popular puff corn snack in Taiwan known as Kuai Kuai (乖乖) can be commonly found adorning areas where technological devices need to work smoothly. Server rooms or where one wishes to have a trouble-free workplace such as police stations or hospitals feature the snacks since the words Kuai Kuai mean well-behaved or obedient in Mandarin.
Given the prevailing belief of this snack’s “magical powers”, the Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School, one of Taipei’s top high schools, partnered with the snack manufacturer to produce a limited edition of the Kuai Kuai snack in celebration of its 125th anniversary.
The limited edition features a high school teen and the Kuai Kaui mascot wearing the Chien Zhong (建中) uniform standing in front of one of the landmarks of the school. The snack even features the school song on the back of the package.
Even at a higher than market price of NT50 (around USD1.50) per pack, pre-orders for the limited edition snack have completely sold out, quickly bought by parents and alumni alike who want their kids to do well in school.
This isn’t the first time that the power of belief has driven sales of products of prestigious schools. The alumni products of National Taiwan University (NTU), the number one university in Taiwan, have also been popular.
NTU items often quickly sell out on their website, demonstrating how not only students and alumni but also the general public love showing off the NTU logo. This year’s limited edition red freshman T-shirt featuring the school motto is no longer available. Yet it is not the students themselves who wear the shirt, but rather the parents as they proudly wear them in public.
Even something as simple as a pencil with the NTU logo is quickly being snapped up by parents who want their kids to perform well enough in school to be able to enter NTU in the long run.
People say you can’t buy luck, but maybe buying a pack of Kuai Kuai is close enough.