Pea Cracker is one of most popular snacks in Taiwan. It has been around for more than 20 year, now with a twist. Tainan City's Cultural Affairs Bureau launched "Grand Matsu Pea Crackers," and the "spokesperson" is, not surprisingly, the Sea Goddess herself.


The gift shop inside Tainan's Chihkan Tower is full of products related to the city's historic sites. At present, the bestselling product is "Grand Matsu Pea Crackers," which was launched by the city's Cultural Affairs Bureau earlier this month and is endorsed by Mazu herself. So far, 12,000 bags have been sold. During weekends and holidays, the product often sells out.

(What caught your attention?) The packaging. And hasn't Mazu been in the headlines recently for appearing in people's dreams? I thought I would buy some for my friends since I was already here.

We came to Chihkan Tower yesterday to look around, but the department selling historic-site related items was only open during the day, and these products are only available there.

The bureau has successively rolled out products endorsed by historic figures such as Koxinga and Confucius in recent years to spur public interest in important historic sites. All of the products have punny slogans to attract attention. Mazu has been in the headlines recently after a presidential primary candidate said she appeared in his dream and told him to run. Her popularity, plus the fact that the crackers are only on sale at historic sites in Tainan, have led to an increase in the number of visits to these sites.

We will celebrate Mazu's birthday during the third lunar month. Here in Tainan, we have the Grand Matsu Temple, which is the only one that is a national historic site. That's why we decided to use Mazu as the inspiration for products and encourage people to visit historic sites.

According to the bureau, it has spent the past few years actively promoting the culture of historic sites and the preservation of religious customs. It intends to continue rolling out creative products linked to historic sites in limited editions, and may launch goods that celebrate Tainan's culture and history in the future to market the city and encourage people to get to know Tainan more deeply.



走進台南赤崁樓商品區，滿滿的古蹟限定商品，吸引了民眾的目光，而當中最亮眼的商品，就是台南市文化局4月推出由媽祖代言的天后碗豆酥，短短一個月的時間，銷出1萬2千多包，幾款商品蟬聯古蹟區熱銷商品不說，每逢假期更常常是一包難求。

遊客表示：「（哪邊吸引你？) 包裝吧！而且最近不是媽祖很紅，媽祖不是有託夢，想說朋友要來就買一包給他。」

遊客表示：「我們昨天就進來這邊(赤崁樓)參觀，然後販賣部白天才有開，(古蹟)販賣部才有，外面都買不到。」

為了拉近國人與國家重要古蹟的距離，文化局近年陸續請出國姓爺鄭成功、至聖先師孔子等"大咖"代言商品，搭配簡單口號"一定要成功"、"一定要致勝"，加上最近因為選舉話題正夯的媽祖加持，創意行銷果真成功締造話題，靠著只限台南古蹟景點獨賣，也成功吸引民眾走進古蹟。

台南市文化局古蹟營運科 陳祥菁表示：「最近剛好是三月，也是媽祖生的祭典，那我們台南又有唯一一個，官方祭祀的大天后宮是國定古蹟，所以就想說用媽祖這個，來做發想的商品這樣，也是希望大家能夠更親近古蹟。」

文化局進一步指出，近年除了致力推廣古蹟歷史文化及宗教禮俗的保存活化，更持續創意發想古蹟限定商品，未來也不排除推出透過呼應台南人文、歷史的商品，藉此讓更多人認識台南。