From Pengsoo to Tom and Jerry... "Capturing 'Kidult' Consumers"

Increase in Kidult Consumers Who Invest Generously in What They Want
Flood of Collaborations with Popular Famous Characters and Product Launches

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] As a social atmosphere that respects individual values and tastes spreads, so-called ‘deokjil’?the act of boldly investing time and money in favorite fields to gain satisfaction?is becoming a pillar of consumer culture. A representative example is the increase in the 'kidult' group who collect and enjoy character products once considered exclusive to children. In the distribution industry, targeting ‘adult’ consumers who enjoy small but certain happiness by purchasing products featuring cute characters, various collaborations continue with characters such as ‘Pengsoo’, ‘Gaspard and Lisa’, and ‘Tom and Jerry’.

According to related industries on the 1st, the dairy industry is capturing consumers' attention by inserting lovely and emotional characters into dairy products and snack packages that are easy to enjoy in daily life. Yonsei University’s Yonsei Milk has showcased a variety of products in design collaboration with the French national characters ‘Gaspard and Lisa’, known for their fairy-tale-like sensibility.

The ‘Antibiotic-Free Sterilized Milk’, made from 100% fresh Grade A raw milk produced at antibiotic-free certified farms, is gaining attention as a social network service (SNS) home cafe item among millennial consumers thanks to its rich taste and stylish packaging featuring the ‘Gaspard and Lisa’ characters. The ‘Light Milk’ and ‘Light Soy Milk’, with playful characters lightly swinging or splashing water on the front and back of the package, offer low-fat and low-calorie options that can be conveniently enjoyed on the way to work or school or during dieting.

‘Gaspard and Lisa String Cheese’ adds fun by featuring different character illustrations on each individually wrapped piece. The package wittily depicts the characters enjoying string cheese. Made from 100% natural string cheese, it is characterized by a mild and light taste without saltiness. The ‘One Cup Milk Flavor’ series, featuring the adorable characters wearing scarves, is a powdered milk product where milk powder is placed in a cup and hot water is poured up to the indicated line to drink.

The food industry recently satisfies consumers’ eyes and taste buds by presenting witty package designs featuring the wildly popular EBS creator character ‘Pengsoo’.

Dongwon F&B released a limited edition ‘Antarctic Penguin Tuna’ featuring the ‘Pengsoo’ character, known as the ‘President of Office Workers’. The Antarctic Tuna package consists of five cans of Antarctic tuna and one random ‘Pengsoo Tuna’ can featuring the Pengsoo character. The ‘Pengsoo Tuna’ comes in 15 different designs showcasing Pengsoo’s cute expressions and catchphrases. A portion of the sales proceeds from the Antarctic Tuna package will be donated to HOOXI, a global climate agreement campaign for Antarctic environmental protection.

Binggrae launched special package products this winter featuring Pengsoo images on three types of ‘Bungeo Samanco’ and three types of ‘Bbangddoa’. They also released video advertisements starring Pengsoo as a model on TV and online channels. Thanks to Pengsoo’s recruitment effect, sales of Bungeo Samanco increased by more than 50% compared to the same period last year.

Products applying well-known animation characters such as ‘Tom and Jerry’ and ‘Hello Jadoo’ on their packages are also popular. Paris Baguette released New Year products using the ‘Tom and Jerry’ characters under the theme ‘Lucky 2020’. The long-running American Warner Bros. animation characters ‘Tom and Jerry’ were incorporated into graphics and package designs. Various products featuring cheese, which the mouse character ‘Jerry’ is set to like, such as ‘Lucky 2020 Cheesecake’, ‘Jerry’s Favorite Cheddar Cheese Cookies’, and ‘Tom and Jerry’s Favorite Cheese & Lemon Madeleines’, attracted popularity.

Bokumjari introduced a tube-type new product ‘Jadoo Jam’ in collaboration with the popular domestic animation character ‘Hello Jadoo’. The lively main character ‘Jadoo’ was used in Bokumjari’s plum jam to create a fresh and vibrant product image. The new product ‘Jadoo Jam’ uses 100% domestic plums and is characterized by a fresh yet sweet taste and aroma. It comes in a 100g size and contains fruit puree and concentrate. It pairs well with crackers, bread, and plain yogurt.

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