The popularity of SPC's Pokémon Bread, which came out after 16 years of discontinuation, was enough to be a surprise to SPC.

There were consumer complaints demanding a re-release after discontinuation, but there were issues to review, including license issues, and frankly, he said that he had no doubts about how much it would sell even if it was re-released.

But the result is 'awesome'...

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12 million units were sold in just 50 days after resale began in late February.



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The secret of its popularity is, as is widely known, the 'tie-bu-seal' (referred to as a 'peel-and-paste sticker').

Long lines were formed in front of convenience stores according to the arrival time, and there was also an 'open run' that could only be seen in front of luxury department stores.

By that time, I was like, 'Why don't they make more?'

I had a question about it, but the reason was still because of 'Tribusil'.



From the perspective of SPC, a representative bakery, it was not that difficult to make more breads of a specific line.

Rather, the company official explained that it was not possible to obtain the desired quantity of 'tibu seal' that goes into the bread.

I asked a SPC official, 'Is it okay to receive stickers from other companies?', but he told me that no other company possessed 'the adhesive technology of the band seal', which is 'removed and pasted'.


Vertical rise of 'memory' items

The general analysis is that the secret of Pokemon Bread's popularity is the 'retro', that is, retro craze among consumers in their 20s and 30s.

They say that they are passionate about 'reminiscence' items from when they were young.

In fact, in addition to Pokemon Bread, limited edition Mimi dolls, produced in collaboration with LF brand Hedges and domestic toy company Mimi World, also caused a shortage.



The 1,000 dolls released as a limited edition on the 4th were sold out in 4 days.

It is a beautiful doll dressed in a fashionable outfit from the 2000s, such as a mini skirt, and it is said that it is thanks to word of mouth after posting certification shots centered on blogs and communities right after its release.

The fact that it is a 'limited edition' in the 'retro' craze seems to have stimulated the consumer group even more.



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In addition, the ice cream Joanna Bar, which was re-launched by Lotte Confectionery last year, sold 800,000 units in 7 months, and Binggrae's Linky Bar also resumed sales last month.

Not only in the food industry, but also Cyworld (an early form of SNS), which was popular in the 2000s, recently started the service again, and more than 2 million members showed considerable responses, such as reviving dormant accounts.


Side effects in 'you and me' culture one after another

As mentioned earlier, the core of this craze is 'memories'.

But is that all?

Pokemon bread, which was popular in the 1990s, is not known by children today, but these days, the popularity of Pokemon bread is no less than that of adults.

Also, it was pointed out as a social problem that people bought bread in order to collect tibu seals and then threw away the bread and took only stickers.



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Of course, the secret to the popularity of Pokemon Bread is basically retro or nostalgic.

However, it is questionable whether the hidden 'you and me' culture in our society was at work in the background of this situation, which spreads beyond popularity to social problems.

This is a particularly noticeable phenomenon in Korea, where anything, once in vogue, spreads into a 'don't ask' style.



What's trending this spring...

Once word of mouth spreads, the street is overflowing with such outfits and fashions.

Such was the trend of high school students' North Face padding or black long padding, called 'spine breaker'.

In front of the school, almost all of the children wore similar clothes, so it was sometimes called 'School uniform, not school uniform'.

It's a kind of social psychology where you don't want to be left behind once a fashion starts.



In fact, this mentality exists in any society.

The problem is the degree of difference.

If the cost isn't as big as Pokemon bread or ice cream, the craze can be even worse.

Here, SNS that can show off to someone often encourages competition rather than competition.

Wouldn't it be better if it was a small reward for me, rather than looking for memories to show or show off to others, or to do it myself?



(Photo = Yonhap News)