Coming up on 14 March is a day called “White Day”, when women present candy to men. It is quite a modern day that exists only in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China while Western nations only commemorate Valentine’s Day. On Valentine’s Day, many men present candy, jewelry, handbags and cosmetics to their girlfriends. Last year, the sales of White Day presents rose up by 10 to 20 percent compared to 2013 despite the economic recession. Unlike Valentine’s Day which originated to honor Saint Valentine, White Day was created as a commercial event. These kinds of days are more prevalent in Korea than most other nations due to “Day Marketing.”
The “Day Marketing” started in the 1990s in order to create more profit in retail industries and restaurant businesses. This marketing strategy aimed to celebrate every 14th day of each month by initiating holidays to present particular items to loved ones. It is particularly aimed at couples. The strategy was successful, resulting in 2 to 84 times more sales than usual. Encouraged by the dramatic increase, more so-called “days” sprung up to support many sectors of industry. The problem is that there are too many days to celebrate because it encourages reckless spending by customers. Many couples, especially men, feel stressed to prepare for all the events since many enterprises encourage customers to celebrate all the events in order to create more profits. Unlike all the advertisements that show the happy couples, many people think that these incogitant anniversaries create more disputes than romance.
If you are a wise consumer, you certainly should not be swindled by all the commercial exploitations. It is a waste of time, money and effort to prepare for all the anniversary days that exist in our society. Expecting your girlfriend or boyfriend to be prepared for all the huge events is practically impossible and worthless to each other. It is important that couples should not scold each other for big presents and surprises and spend the time together in invaluable ways. Giving small presents that are affordable will create a romantic atmosphere and will reassure each other that the one is thinking about the other. Moreover, stop being reactive to the enterprises that are trying to rob you, rather use them instead. There are many discounts and events that are provided during the anniversary days in order to attract more customers. Go to the restaurant that you wanted to go to with the discount or buy the product that you needed with free gifts. What is important is that you should spend happy time with the one that you love, instead of getting stressed.

- The Kookmin Review

Kookmin Review Mee-So Kim(Editor-In-Chief)