Happy Pepero Day

November 11th is a special holiday in Korea (it was a Sunday, but it’s not the kind of holiday that we would have gotten off work, anyway). In Canada and America, we have Remembrance Day and Veteran’s Day, respectively, on November 11th. As patriotic North Americans, we remember war heroes, and those who risked and lost their lives for the betterment of ours. In Korea, they celebrate….

The Pepero.

A pepero is a (admittedly, rather delicious) long cookie stick, dipped in chocolate, similar to the Pocky of Japan, and otherwhere. It’s sort of like Korea’s version of Valentine’s day, in that you give Peperos to those you are fond of, and it has no particularly imminent need to be celebrated, and was conceived and sponsored entire by a company (Lotte, who owns the Pepero name, and just about everything else in Korea).

For the weeks leading up to Pepero Day, every store that sells them makes THE MOST intense displays of Peperos. Giant sculptures made out of boxes of Peperos in the shapes of hearts and arrows, and Xs and Os, and things of that nature. They have balloons all throughout the store, and more Peperos than you can shake a (chocolate-covered) stick at.

My favorite part of the whole deal is the reasoning behind the holiday. Apparently, it was chosen to be on November 11th, because if you sort of think about it, 11/11 looks vaguely like some sticks, and Pepero means “thin like a stick.” Man. Whoever came up with this holiday is a marketing GENIUS.