빼빼로 (Pepero)

Pepero is a Korean snack food that is made of a cookie stick that is dipped in chocolate. The thing is that it is not just any regular snack, there's a special story (or event) attached to this tiny staff of goodness.

Almond

Nude (chocolate on the inside)

Original

These are some of the flavours.

Yesterday was 'Pepero Day' here in South Korea, and what this is, is a 'special' celebration day, along the lines of Valentine's day. The idea is that people give each other boxes or sticks of Pepero, so as to make the other person just that little bit happier. Most of the giving is done from boys to girls and vice versa as opposed to adults to adults.

Some people really like the idea of this day, as it gives people a reason to be-gift one another and it makes the day a little more special. Other people say that a day like this is nothing but blatant consumerism at it's best (or is that worst?).

Pepero is made by a huge company here in Korea, called Lotte. They really are massive, having their hands in everything from products, to housing, to theme parks, etc, etc. According to Wikipedia, Lotte says they had nothing to do with the creation of the day, so is it just a huge coincidence that they make over 50% of their sales in November..?

There are a few different stories as to how it started, but one fact remains, Pepero Day is on November 11, which is 11-11, which, in other words, is a whole bunch of straight lines, and Pepero being a cookie stick, resembles these lines, hence November 11.

Whether one agrees with it or not, it is what it is, and Claudia and myself decided to embrace Pepero Day, and bought a whole lot of the stuff the night before, so we could dish it out to our co-teachers and students (not me, just Claudia; she's a sucker for giving things to her kids).

Here is what we bought:

This was all redistributed, promise

Almond pack

Nude pack

Original pack

Some people might say we 'fell prey' to the out-and-out consumerism, others might say we are just embracing Korean culture and celebrations. Which ever way you look at we, we can say we had a lot of fun giving away the Pepero, and also receiving a whole bunch. We now have a cupboard full, which should last us for some time into the future...

...Long Live Pepero Day!!!

Post by Oliver