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| ▲ This photo, shows a notice saying that the Pokémon Bread has been sold out in front of the convenience store in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, shows the "Pokémon Bread" sold at a convenience store in Seoul on the 11th, which has created a craze phenomenon. It has the tti-bu-seal (sticker that is peeled and pasted), which people are enthusiastic about collecting. |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by SPC Samlip, shows the 7 types of Pokémon Bread that has been re-released. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, shows the " Pokémon Bread" at a convenience store in Seoul. It has created a craze phenomenon as it has been re-released after 16 years. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap)-- About 10 million sales of "Pokémon Bread" were sold in 40 days after it was re-released.
This bread, which was very popular in the late 1990s came back to the market after about 20 years, making the consumers so enthusiastic that the supply could not keep up with the demand.
It is said that the popularity was stimulated by the nostalgia of the people in their 30s who spent their school days with this bread. With the same type of bread and taste along with the "tti-bu-seal" (sticker that is peeled and pasted), it was enough to evoke the old memories.
To deal with the continuous demand, SPC Samlip is preparing for a "Season 2" product.
◇ 6 times the speed of sales of other bread products… Open run in front of the store
According to SPC Samlip on the 5th, a total of 9.5 million sales of the 7 types of "The Return of Pokémon Bread," which were released on February 24th were sold as of the 5th.
"It was calculated that an average of about 230,000 pieces were sold per day. This is about six times faster than the sales of other bread products in our company" explained an official from SPC Samlip.
As if reflecting its popularity, there is a continuous shortage of Pokémon Breads in convenience stores and supermarkets across the country. In front of large stores, there was also an "open run" situation where people were waiting outside even before the business hours.
In some stores, notices such as "Pokemon Bread Out Of Stock" were posted outside.
These breads which cannot be found on the sales stand are being traded at higher prices online. There are also people buying and selling the stickers that come along the bread.
"Although it has been re-released, I have never seen it in real life." said Park, a 29-year-old office worker who used to buy Pokémon Breads in elementary school. "I have no idea how to find these breads."
As complaints about not being able to buy Pokémon Bread continued, SPC Samlip even posted an apology on the Internet saying, "Although the bread is being produced 24 hours a day, there is difficulty in supplying the product to everyone who wants to purchase it."
◇ The same taste of the old days... even the fun of collecting stickers
Behind the Pokémon Bread craze, which can also be called a social phenomenon are memories and nostalgia.
As the re-launch of Pokémon Bread were announced and spread, people began sharing their memory of the bread online, with some saying "I used to buy and eat it after my academy," "I used to buy it just for stickers and gave my bread to someone else," "the chocolate bread was the best."
Some of the people in their 20s and 30s have cheered saying, "I'm now an adult and am making money. I'm going to buy the whole box."
In line with this, SPC Samlip set the concept of their re-launch as "Summoning those memories" with the return of products including "Goose Chocolate Cake" and "Team Rocket Chocolate Roll" which were popular back in the day.
The key element of the Pokémon Bread popularity in the past, the tti-bu-seal, a sticker that is peeled and pasted, has also been added in the product just like before. In each bread, there will be one of the 159 stickers, which makes it even more fun to collect.
Lee Eun-hee, a professor at the department of Consumer Science of Inha University, analyzed the popularity of the Pokémon bread and said, "The consumers are 'healing' as they forget their pain for awhile and reminisce their happy childhood through the same consumption patterns of the past."
◇ Release of Season 2 coming soon... more expensive refrigerated products
SPC Samlip is planning to release "Pokémon Bread Season 2" with a new design soon.
Unlike the existing products which are sold at room temperature, the new products will be refrigerated deserts.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Haemin Kim.)
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