"Please sell more": RM, the leader of BTS, posted proof photos of his purchase of 'Pokemon bread' and such writing on his social media last March. He also uploaded a photo of his booklet for the stickers(띠부띠부씰, Tibutibu Seal) he had collected, which are in the shapes of Pokemon characters. Many Korean celebrities in their 20s or 30s, as well as RM, buy the products and show them off on their social media, proving the craze for Pokemon Bread.
Items that captivate "Kidult"(kid+adult) customers are catching on inside and outside the market. The combination of Pokemon Bread, the anime and movies of Pokemon, which have consolidated the fandom, contributes to the customers' desire to collect.
According to the industry, on the 23rd, the most-favoured item in the mass production and convenience store industries was the sticker(Tibutibu Seal) in the Pokemon Bread.
Last February, SPC Samlip re-launched the bread, which caught on at the end of the 1990s and now re-kindled the craze. The trend is accredited to those who were kids from the end of the 1990s to the beginning of the 2000s. They are now adults reminiscing about their memories over the stickers.
On the heels of its release, the craze for that bread has been catching on as people rush to convenience stores at opening times and resell the products for higher prices. There was a case where 16.5 million won worth of the amount(based on the regular price) sold in just one minute online. There have been frequent cases in which rare stickers sold five or ten times more expensive than the regular price on second-hand trading websites.
Pokemon Bread, released on 24 Feb this year, sold more than 10 million within 43 days. Based on the 20th of this month, the total sales amount to 38.4 million.
A member of the SPC staff concerned said: "The whole production is leading to sales to the extent that customers rush to markets at the opening time".
In the wake of the trend, like in the Pokemon Bread, sales of similar concept items are increasing. As the customers, known as "Kidult", have gained purchase power, the market for them has become bigger, having reacted to their needs and interests, which are reminiscent of their childhood memories.
WORDS BY
Minsu Kim - koreaonthescreen@gmail.com
@koreaonthescreen
@emeskei_
@koreaonthescreen
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