Boxes of Pepero, a chocolate-covered cookie snack, are stacked at a supermarket in Seoul’s Yongsan district on Sunday, about a week before Pepero Day, which falls on November 11 annually.

The event, which was initially started by a number of teenage girls, continued nationwide with promotion from retailers

By Lee Hae-rin

The month of November typically sees a peak in sales of Pepero, a chocolate-covered cookie stick snack, as “Pepero Day,” November 11, approaches.

This local celebration is like a light-hearted version of Valentine’s Day, which Koreans also celebrate. Koreans exchange Pepero snacks with friends, lovers, colleagues and family members.

However, some also criticized the practice, saying Pepero Day is just a tactic created by certain confectionery companies and retail sectors.

Is the widespread claim that Pepero Day was created by the industry actually true?

The first media report on Pepero Day can be found in an article published in November 1996.

The article says that around this time, the playful tradition of declaring November 11 every year as Pepero Day was popular among teenage girls in North Gyeongsang Province.

On November 11, when the number “1” was repeated four times, people exchanged Pepero gifts and wished each other “slim and thin like Pepero snacks.”

Based on this phenomenon, Lotte Wellfood, formerly Lotte Confectionery, which produces Pepero, started using the name Pepero Day on November 11 of the following year, distributing Pepero for free in major cities.

“It was a long time ago, so there are no more records (on the background of the tradition),” said a Lotte Wellfood official, confirming: “It is not a culture created at the corporate level.”

In the mid-1990s, the company’s sales staff in South Gyeongsang Province found it strange that Pepero sales increased every November, so they reported this to the head office. Lotte later started using the term Pepero Day.

While the company’s massive marketing popularized the tradition, causing it to spread and go viral nationwide, Pepero Day is a unique anniversary created by consumers and developed by the confectionery and retail industries, industry insiders said.

“Other snack-related anniversaries, such as Valentine’s Day, are limited to loved ones, but Pepero Day was relatively easy to create because of its wide range of meanings and audiences,” the official explained.

Encouraged by the success of Pepero Day, the confectionery and distribution industry introduced many “Day” gimmicks and promotions.

For example, ‘triangle gimbap day’ was briefly celebrated on March 3 and an attempt at ‘whale rice day’ on December 12, somewhat to promote the sale of ‘whale rice cakes’, because the shape of December 12 and the number 12 on the side looked like a whale. But neither achieved any success.

Pepero Day is also notable for being a domestic anniversary that was later exported abroad.

According to the Japan Anniversary Association, Japan also celebrates November 11 every year as Pocky and Pretz Day.

Ezaki Glico designated November 11 as “Pocky and Pretz Day” and received a certificate from the Japan Anniversary Association in 1999.

Meanwhile, Korea saw the full-fledged marketing of Pepero by Lotte Wellfood in 1997, making it a leader in celebrating the snack’s anniversary, well ahead of other markets.

This undated photo shows a Pepero ad on a giant LED on TSX Broadway in Times Square, New York. Lotte Wellfood promotes Pepero Day, which falls on November 11 every year in Korea, through digital advertisements abroad from October 21 to November 11. Thanks to Lotte Wellfood

This year the company wants to promote the local tradition worldwide.

Lotte Wellfood has introduced digital advertising on the giant LED of the TSX Broadway building in New York City’s Times Square from October 21 through Pepero Day this year.

This is the second time the company has placed a Pepero ad in Times Square.

Under the slogan ‘Show your love with Pepero’, the video shows K-pop group NewJeans, the brand’s ambassador, preparing for Pepero Day.

The Pepero ad was also released in downtown Los Angeles, Korea Town and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam ahead of Pepero Day.

Pepero is currently exported to about 50 countries, and during the first half of this year, export sales reached 32.5 billion won ($23.2 million), surpassing domestic sales for the first time.