Kaohsiung-A tiger tail light has become an online sensation in Taiwan after it was launched by the organizers of the 2022 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Kaohsiung on Feb. 1, and sold as a limited memento at the event's venues to celebrate the traditional festival.
The innovative item is actually a tube-shaped balloon that is yellow with black stripes like a tiger's tail, made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material, which is worn on one's waist, dangling at the back.
The "tail" can twinkle thanks to a LED light ball at its end and will wiggle as users walk.
Since the item's debut, it has attracted a lot of attention on the internet and triggered a buying frenzy on several online auction and shopping platforms in Taiwan, prompting the price to rise from NT$299 (US$10.70) per unit to NT$750.
When the Kaohsiung City government, the festival's main organizer, launched a limited online sale for 1,500 sets (two units in each set) on the festival's official LINE account on Feb. 8, the sets, priced at NT$500, were sold out within 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, workers at the festival venue spots where the item is being sold are bombarded daily with demand from interested buyers.
"We did not expect the tiger tail light to be so popular," Wang Shu-ying (???), the chief administrative officer of the Kaohsiung Museum of History, told CNA on Sunday. The museum is the merchandise developer for the Kaohsiung event and developed the product with Taipei-based Afterain Design Studio.
The city government is now negotiating with the manufacturers on the possibility of increasing the distribution amount of the item at the festival's two main venues, Wang said.
The Taiwan Lantern Festival in Kaohsiung is being held on the Love River Bay and the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) from Feb. 1 to Feb. 28.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel