Honey: The New Marketing Trend
Story By Min Jung, Irene Park, and Justin Choi
Editor by: Sarah Jung
Design by: Nicole Yang
Editor by: Sarah Jung
Design by: Nicole Yang
On August 2014, the Honey Butter Chip by the company Haitai Confectionery and Foods, emerged in Korean markets like a comet and caused sensational records sales. After its release, the product earned about 23 billion dollars
Most shops are sold-out of this product,” the ‘CU (Bokjeong-dong, right in front of SIS)’ shop clerk said. “I still haven’t seen any come in stock during my working time.” Demands for the chips were so high that it was necessary for the shops to have signs that said, ‘One per customer’ and ‘Honey Butter Chip sold out’ due to the customers who persistently asked for the product. Many eager buyers have been scavenging through the stores to get their hands on the dream snack, only to be turned back with disappointment. The company behind the genius merchandise thought of an innovative twist. They broke the tradition that potato chips had to be salty by adding sweetness in the recipe. Interestingly, this sweet novelty in the product became so popular. People began to upload posts on SNS. Boasting that they finally bought one, celebrities also posted pictures of themselves holding the chip, with captions such as “I can’t believe myself for laughing and crying for a bag of chips, but it’s so good” (So Yujin), which caught their fans’ attentions. “I honestly would put it as wanting the chip itself rather than wanting to actually eat it,” said Lee Kangyoung (Bokjeong-dong CU customer). “I would probably tell my friends and not eat it for a while just because it’s so rare.” Many customers failed numerous times in purchasing the highly demanded Honey Butter Chip. There was even an aftermarket for it, some people even demanding ridiculous prices for the “smell”, and a bag of the chip being sold for more than twice of 1200w (original price). When something is rare, people are more desperate to get their hands on it - and this is a living proof. To this day, people are still buying the bag of chips for hyped prices, not hesitating to buy it by a boxful. |
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