White Day catches on even with older guys

Last year, a boss in his early 50s received a lot of praise from his employees at the office when he handed out a basket full of candy on White Day, celebrated March 14.

“It was an unexpected surprise,” said an employee. “Usually bosses at such an age don’t have the sensitivity to take notice of that kind of a day.”

According to the social commerce company Ticket Monster (T-Mon), men in their 50s accounted for 8 percent of White Day gift givers during a special event held between Feb. 28 and March 12. Those in their 60s or older accounted for 4 percent.

Although the special love-related day is celebrated mostly by younger people - considering that those in their 50s only accounted for 4.6 percent and those in their 60s or above 2.1 percent last year - participation by the older generation has nearly doubled.

White Day is another love-related day that juxtaposes the more widely celebrated Valentine’s Day. In Korea, women customarily hand out chocolate on Feb. 14 and men do it on March 14.

T-Mon said the increased participation of people in their 50s and 60s is largely because older men buy candy and related sweets to pass around to female workers in their offices.

Still, the younger generation remains the dominant age group celebrating White Day.

Forty-three percent of those making White Day purchases were in their 30s, followed by those in their 20s at 27 percent and 40s at 17 percent.

T-Mon’s study also showed the way of celebrating White Day has been changing. Instead of buying sweets like candy and chocolate, more people are opting to purchase discount cards for popular restaurants and cafes. Sales of other products such as high-end wallets and shoulder bags have also increased.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]