The Year of the White Rat Sees a Flood of 'White Marketing'... Products Symbolizing the White Rat's Prosperity and Abundance Pour In

Reflecting the part where Gyeong (庚) means white, focus on 'white color'... White products pouring out
Special editions embodying the meaning of wealth and prosperity of the 'white rat' also emerging one after another

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] As the year 2020, the Year of the White Rat, begins, the food, dining, and alcoholic beverage industries are flooding with 'white marketing.' This reflects the fact that Gyeongja year is the 37th in the 60-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, where 'Gyeong (庚)' represents the color white, focusing on the theme of 'white.' Various sectors, from burgers to beverages and ice cream, are eagerly launching white-themed menu items. Additionally, products symbolizing the abundance and prosperity of the 'white rat' are also emerging one after another this year.

According to the industry on the 25th, KFC recently launched a new menu item called the ‘Fall-in Cream Cheese Zinger Burger,’ featuring an attractive white cream cheese ball inside.

This product contains a whole breast fillet fried in KFC’s unique style, crispy on the outside and moist inside, combined with a spicy sauce and a sweet, soft cream cheese ball, allowing customers to enjoy the rich flavor of cream cheese spreading in their mouths. Especially, its addictive sweet and spicy taste has been receiving positive responses from customers since its launch.

Baskin-Robbins recently partnered with the French premium cream cheese brand ‘Kiri’ to release the flavor of the month, ‘Uri Kiri.’ The January flavor ‘Uri Kiri’ is a product that combines smooth and rich Kiri cream cheese ice cream with savory Kiri cheesecake cubes.

Starbucks Coffee Korea introduced the ‘Happy Cheese White Mocha,’ a beverage blending creamy whipped cream cheese with a chewy texture and sweet white chocolate. As a drink symbolizing the New Year of Gyeongja, it not only uses cheese and white chocolate but also carries a symbolic meaning wishing all customers who visit Starbucks a happy new year, as its name suggests.

At Tous Les Jours, the ‘Cheese Brownie’ was introduced, which is a real brownie topped with cream cheese and baked. It tempts consumers with a sweet and salty combination by adding plenty of cream cheese to the existing rich chocolate flavor of the real brownie.

The alcoholic beverage industry is also releasing special edition products that embody the abundance and prosperity symbolized by the white rat to celebrate the Year of the White Rat.

Tsingtao launched the ‘Tsingtao 2020 Gyeongja Year Commemorative Special Edition’ in collaboration with webtoon artist Joo Ho-min to mark the Year of the White Rat. This New Year edition, the third since 2018, carries the meaning of enjoying ‘Fortune (福) Beer’ in the year symbolizing abundance and prosperity, calling for hope and fortune while warding off bad luck.

The bottle design features the auspicious white rat, the Tsingtao bottle, and the character for fortune (福) engraved on a Tsingtao food truck, all placed on a white background to visually express the message of ‘moving forward to a hopeful year.’ Especially, as this edition was created in collaboration with webtoon artist Joo Ho-min, famous as the original creator of the movie series ‘Along with the Gods,’ it incorporates a fun element of dispelling bad luck and inviting fortune.

A representative from BeerK, an imported liquor distribution company, said, “The zodiac marketing that opens the new year provides a fresh feeling and fun elements to existing products, so it tends to receive high consumer response,” adding, “Thanks to this, the package designed and planned in Korea is also exported to other countries such as Hong Kong and Australia, receiving positive reactions.”

Diageo Korea also launched a premium whiskey gift set for the 2020 Gyeongja New Year, introducing the ‘Johnnie Walker Blue Label Rat Edition.’ This edition commemorates the Year of the Rat in 2020 and is the third 12-zodiac edition released domestically following the Dog and Pig editions. The three sides of the bottle are decorated with traditional Korean paintings symbolizing the rat and fortune, featuring an attractive design that captures the hearts of domestic consumers. It carries greater meaning and emotion when gifted to people born in the Year of the Rat.

Dongwon Wine Plus released the ‘Volver Special Edition’ wine, suitable as a New Year gift. The Volver Special Edition was jointly planned by Dongwon Wine Plus and the famous Spanish winery Bodegas Volver to commemorate the Gyeongja New Year. The wine label features a golden rat illustration along with the four-character idiom Geoga Daejok (巨家大族), meaning ‘a prosperous family for generations,’ expressing wishes for happiness and abundance for the recipient, making it a great way to convey gratitude to family and friends.

Pernod Ricard Korea’s luxury whiskey brand ‘Royal Salute’ also launched a limited edition, the ‘Royal Salute 21-Year Snow Polo Edition.’ This edition is inspired by the dynamic snow polo and is available only for this season. The pure white flacon (bottle), embossed with the image of a dynamic polo player and reminiscent of snow-covered mountains, elegantly expresses the uniqueness of snow polo, further stimulating collectors’ desire to own it.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.