Pepero Day

     Americans might have some odd holidays, but this tops them all.  Pepero Day, November 11.  It is on this day you that you give your friends or loved ones Pepero.  It is a sign of friendship.  Pepero is a bread stick covered in chocolate.  You celebrate this on 11/11 because it looks like to Pepero sticks.  I have enough Pepero and chocolate to survive on for a month.  I was showered with it from all of my students. 

     Here is the history (if your interested):  The Lotte Confectionary Company introduced Pepero to Korea back in the 1980s. Many people believe that the company invented this day to increase their sales. If the Lotte Company did do this then it was a huge success. It sells almost two-thirds of it’s yearly total of these snacks in the two months before November 11^th (Source: Lina Yoon Wall Street Journal 2006). The Lotte Company refutes this claim because they say they only started marketing these snacks in the year 2000 after marketing personnel started to notice a yearly jump in sales around the 11^th. Koo Ja-ryung, the branding manager of Pepero said "Actually, we didn't start Pepero day. Some middle school girls in Busan gave Peperos to their friends on November 11th, saying 'Be tall and thin' like the number 1, in 1994. (Kim Moon-sun Cauon, 2004).