Society

Special Days

Pro

November 11 is known as Pepero Day in Korea. On Pepero Day, people give pepero, which is a cookie stick, to each other. In Korea, apart from Pepero Day, there are Valentine’s Day, White Day, and others. When special days come, people give confectionery like chocolate and candies. However, some people criticize these special days saying the special days are for business purposes and most people are taken in by them. However, these special days have many good points.

People have the right to express their feelings. Nevertheless, most people cannot express their feelings because they don’t have enough courage. For that reason, when special days come, these people confess their love through sweet confectionery like chocolate and candies. By doing so, people can recognize and make sure of their feelings. Moreover, people can also express their thanks toward other people who helped them.

Everyone is pleased to receive gifts from people who are precious to them. If someone you love or who is important to you gives you a gift, it means he or she likes and has good emotions toward you. You will be impressed and pleased to know his or her feelings toward you.

Special days also contribute to the economy by increasing the amount of private consumption. These days, consumers save their money because of financial difficulty. However, special days increase consumer spending on gifts like chocolate and candies. Therefore, these special days can help to revitalize the economy.

Many people say, “You waste your money on special days.” However, if you think special days exist for giving presents to valuable and beloved people, these special days become the days everybody can express their feelings. Therefore, special days need to be kept.

By Lee Eun-ji
KMG Editor
leeej4@kmu.ac.kr


Con

Have you ever worried when a special day comes? These days, there are so many special days such as Pepero Day, Valentine’s Day, and Rose Day. Many people think special days exist for exchanging gifts, so the days are seen as special. However, there are some problems with them.

First, special days are so commercial. Among the days, for example, Pepero Day began with middle school girls in Busan. They exchanged Pepero snacks on November 11 to communicate their message, “Let’s become thin and tall,” like the shape of Pepero and that of the number 1. Incidentally, there are four ones in November 11. The manufacturer of Pepero noticed this fact, so the company started to market November 11 as Pepero Day. The company’s monthly sales amounted roughly to 2.5 billion won at first, and the amount kept rising to about ten billion won. This kind of marketing is called “day marketing,” which is marketing using the day. They are strategies made by the interested companies, and the people exchanging gifts on the days are fooled by those companies’ commercial purposes. Besides Pepero Day, almost all the special days are also for day marketing

Second, to some people, special days give them many chances to get closer to their friends or to declare their love. However, to other people, these special days may give them much stress and make them feel left out. In addition, there are also some people who don’t want to exchange gifts and don’t want to spend money without any particular purposes.

Of course, it is not entirely wrong for us to enjoy those special days. The days also have good sides in that people can open their hearts to one another, and some students who prepare for exams feel relaxed on such days after getting gifts or realize they are being encouraged. Nevertheless, it is not nice that people are crazy about these days without any particular reasons and just feel happy to buy gifts, and there are people who don’t want to exchange gifts, but they spend a lot of money because other people do.

In conclusion, we have to think about such special days which exist just for commercial purposes and find possible ways to reduce thoughtless financial expenses. How about expressing our hearts by writing letters instead of buying the goods made for special days?

By Kang Aruem-songyi
KMG Junior Reporter
annieks22@kmu.ac.kr