White Day

After Valentine's Day, most girls wait for White day to receive candy from boys in Korea. This year, White Day is on Monday, March 14, exactly one month after Valentine's Day and is a familiar event for most Asian cultures, especially in Japan as the creator is Japanese.

White day was created by Morinaga, a famous Japanese confectionery company for commercial reasons similar to the custom of giving chocolates on Valentine's Day.

The Morinaga Company created an advertising campaign in 1960 that encouraged girls to give chocolates on Valentine's Day instead of just declaring their love. Yet Valentine's Day was not popular until in 1970, when the girls in Japan became more liberal. Still the company was able to promote their product through their extensive campaign.

After their huge success on their Valentine's Day campaign, they made another advertising campaign to sell their most unpopular item, the marshmallow. The company created Marshmallow Day, so girls could receive a gift from boys as a response to Valentine’s Day. In other words, if a boy was given chocolates from a girl on Valentine's Day and if he is interested in that girl who gave him the chocolates, he should give candy to that girl as a sign that he is in love with her too.

Marshmallow Day changed to White Day because of the color of the marshmallow, and it is still popular event along with Valentine's Day in Korea.

It’s mostly teenagers and those in their early 20s who are obsessed with Valentine’s Day and White Day. The young generation not only gives chocolate and candy but also gives expensive gifts to their boyfriend or girlfriend as if it is an effective way to show their love to them. But most people in their late 20s and 30s don’t really observe these events.

These days, Valentine’s Day and White Day are seen more negatively because they are created by commercial companies and promote over consumption. Despite the criticism, the days are growing bigger each year as streets are filled with brightly colored baskets, boxes and heart-shaped items from February through March.

A lot of Koreans think that this day is celebrated in other countries like Valentines Day. (from www.worknplay.co.kr)

Most of the boys in my classes today gave me little toys, pens, and chocolate to celebrate the day. I started eating the chocolates by 10:30am, felt sick by 11:00, had kids running and screaming from the sugar by 1:00, heard kids throwing up by 4:00 and hated White Day by 7:00.....

....there's a reason why this day wasn't made for 6,7,8 year olds - and why it's not appealing to the 20/30-something year olds who teach them.