Happy Pepero Day!!

So, in North America we celebrate November 11th as Remembrance Day, where we honor and remember all those brave people who fought to protect out country. Many people lost their lives so that we could have a better tomorrow.

In Korea, Novemeber 11th is Pepero Day!!!
As explained in Wikipedia:
Pepero Day is a unofficial holiday in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day or Sweetest Day. It is named after the Korean snack Pepero and held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resemble four sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts.
According to the story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero" (Pepero means "thin like a stick"). However, it is more likely it was initiated by Lotte, the company which produces Pepero.

I thought this was a really weird contrast to N.A's Novemeber 11th. I also thought this was a good example that shows how much the world is becoming influenced by big corporations. We celebrate many holidays, all of which are slowly becoming more and more about gaining tangible goods and less about the meaning behind the holiday. Now, it has even gotten as far as having holidays that are actually named after the product itself.

(November 11th was never remembrance day for Korea, so its not as if they have gotten rid of remembrance day, Pepero day just happen to fall on the same day as N.A's rememberance day. Korea has their own day of remembrance. I was just using the Pepero holiday as an example of how much societies all over the world have become influenced by 'products' and corporations)