Liz Mitchell had never done any acting before, but when a modelling agency called her to play a part in a car commercial, she took it as a chance to expand her experience of living in Taiwan.
"It's kinda fun," said the 23-year-old English teacher from New Hampshire. "It's a different way to make money rather than teaching English every day. I could substitute and make just as much money probably a little more conveniently."
However, she says her first experience of the advertising industry in Taiwan was indicative of what was to come. "It was really chaotic and they really needed foreigners," she said.
For the next shoot, Mitchell says her agent told her she would be acting in a commercial for Chinese herbal medicine to be shown in China, when it was actually for an enema.
"I didn't find out until I was actually on the set in make-up. If it had been playing in Taiwan I probably wouldn't have done it," she said.
Mitchell is one of many foreigners in Taiwan who have been put off by this unusual line of work because of misunderstandings and what some say is blatant deceit.
For many foreign models, their experience of the advertising industry in Taiwan starts outside popular pubs and clubs, such as Roxy 99 or Vibe, through an encounter on the street with an agent or, increasingly, through friends.
Gary Tai, an independent model agent, says that the companies he works with frequently try to find models outside Taipei's bars, but that restricts the kind of foreigners they find.
"It's not good because there are a lot of more suitable foreigners in Taiwan and they are not there," Tai said. "I don't go to the bars, I go out during the day [to find foreign models] and I will tell them what I do."
Faith Huang, another independent agent, thinks that growing demand for foreign models for commercials has made some agencies more desperate.
"Basically they take whoever they see," she said, "because there are many different projects with many different requirements."
Huang, who has between 50 and 60 foreign models on her books, said that although foreigners are still rarely the main character in television commercials, many larger, international companies require foreigners for their advertisements.
Asked why, Huang said some companies wanted to present a certain image. For a car commercial, for instance, "if you have a Taiwanese person doing that, it doesn't look very good," she said.
Frustrating environment
But for some foreigners, with no acting experience or Chinese skills, their experience of the advertising industry in Taiwan can be frustrating.
Jay Joubert, a 29-year-old English teacher from Capetown, South Africa, who has acted in several television commercials outside Taiwan, was not impressed by his experience in a commercial for an impotence drug.
"I've done one ad in Taiwan and that's it," he said.
"Never again will I work in this industry in Taiwan. Very dodgy compared to the rest of the world. Very unprofessional."
Some of the problems stem from the large number of people involved in making a commercial, with the model at the end of the line trying to understand what is expected of him or her.
The company with a product to sell may have its own marketing department to design commercials, otherwise it will hire an advertising agency. The marketing department or advertising agency will then hire a production company to shoot it. The production company in turn will get models through one or more agencies, who will then contact suitable models for auditions.
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