Food

This “McDonald’s Goddess” Is the Latest Icon of Taiwan’s Sexual Fast Food Culture

What is the quickest, most surefire route to becoming an international sex symbol? Could it be a job in fast food?

After all, nothing screams “spotlight” quite like the circle of fluorescent light that shines on the aging, lurid-colored linoleum as you press your body up against the counter to order mounds of salted grease at 2 AM.

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Well, maybe not in the US. But in Taiwan, things are different.

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Wei Han Xu—also known as Weiwei, or Haitun, which means “dolphin” in Chinese—is the latest media darling of Taiwan. And where was she discovered? Working in a local McDonald’s, of course. And although the hysteria is recent, she has been a part-time employee there for five years.

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Photo via Raindog

Weiwei has big, round eyes; a youthful, almost cartoon-like face; and a penchant for wearing cutesy blouses with super-high heels. According to RocketNews24, “After her photos went viral, the petite beauty has appeared on several Taiwanese variety programs due to her sudden fame. She also works as a model on the side, and actively posts selfies on her social media accounts.”

Tracing her ascent to its humble roots brings us to a popular Taiwanese blogger named RainDog, who is something of a creep, judging by his website. His followers were quickly smitten with photos he posted of Weiwei.

Shortly thereafter, her place of business n the city of Kaohsiung became swarmed with oglers. Weiwei told a variety show that her new notoriety has brought an uptick in visitors to her McDonald’s but “her manager isn’t too happy about the buzz because many of these fans tend to crowd at the counter trying to talk to or snap photos of her.” In fact, if she’s not on duty, “they end up leaving without making a purchase.”

Weiwei, however, is nothing if not thankful for—and ready to pounce on—the attention she has received.

She recently posted on her Facebook page (where, by the way, she is listed as a “public figure” and has quickly gained 87,000 likes) the following missive to her followers: “In these few days, I received a lot of message from people that had different backgrounds. I was shocked because in my point of view it is just an old news In Taiwan. I would like to say thank you to all the attentions, thank you so much to concern about me.”

Men from all over the world are leaving comments for Weiwei, like Fikar Muhammad Akbar who writes, “ohh damn ! you’re most very beautiful ohh my god ckck very cuty like a princess and I like your voice too..more than princess more than beautiful thing in the world ever..it seems like an angel wow I’m gonna dream about you in my sleep.”

Many ask Weiwei to marry them. Some just want to know where her McDonald’s is located. She responds coyly, “In Taiwan.”

She also has, as of today, over 40,800 followers on Instagram.

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McDonald’s in Taiwan may not be as unlikely a place to launch an Internet career as you may think. The outlets there are know for hiring cute girls and encouraging them to act out their cosplaying fantasies, including dressing in in maids’ dresses, sailor uniforms, and other outfits.

In short, McDonald’s in Taiwan is not like a McDonald’s you might find in rural Texas; the Asian nation has its own sex-laced subculture that goes well beyond the Ronald McDonald image we’re familiar with in the states. Still, it is Weiwei alone who has been dubbed the “cutest McDonald’s goddess in Taiwanese history.”

Is all of this attention on a young girl in her workplace a bit disconcerting? Sure. But for the time being, Weiwei seems to be reveling in her newfound fame—whether she still has to sell fries or not.

In Greek mythology, goddesses were hatched out of seashells or sprung, spontaneously, from Zeus’s head. Today, at least in Taiwan, they may ascend from behind the counter at a burger-slinging fast-food emporium.