|
 The show has become a viral hit
by depicting childhood games https://www.reuters.com/
business/media-telecom/lethal-kids-games-drive-viral-fame-netflix-series-squid-games-2021-09-30
with deadly consequences. One of the challenges
has the cash-strapped contestants on the show
carving out the symbol etched into a sugar candy
called dalgona without cracking the whole piece
or risk being shot by masked enforcers.
Dalgona is typically sold with a variety of
shapes but "Squid Game" featured four, a
triangle, circle, star, and an umbrella. One
piece is about 2,000 won ($1.68) but you can get
a buy-one-get-one-free deal if you don't crack
the first one.
An Yong-hui, 37, has been making dalgona for the
past eight years in a university district in the
capital Seoul. He and his coworkers used 15 kg
(33 lb) of sugar to make 700 candies for the
filming in June 2020 of the show's third
episode, which is described by Netflix as equal
parts "sweet and deadly."
As the show's popularity has surged since its
premiere last month, An hasn't been able to go
home for a week in order to meet the demand from
eager "Squid Game" fans that start queuing up
outside his 2-square-metre (2.4 square yards)
street kitchen at 11 a.m.
He now sells over 500 dalgonas a day from less
than 200 before the show's premiere.
"We are thinking we should place a rifle here as
well," An said, chuckling at his reference to
the show's outsized repercussions for failure.
On the show, the downtrodden contestants vie for
a prize of 45.6 billion won ($38.40 million) by
competing in games that recall a more idyllic
pre-digital time.
[to top of second column]
|
 Netflix said https://about.netflix.com/en/news/the-making-of-a-global-sensation-the-journey-to-creating-squid-game
in an article on the show's creation that
director Hwang Dong-hyuk's selection of
childhood games was deliberate to make the show
more relatable to the audience.
For South Koreans, dalgona sellers were a
fixture in front of schools until the early
2000s but the trend has died down since then and
according to An the candy is even older.
"I have heard so much about the dalgona
challenge from my dad and grandma and was always
curious," said Lee You-hee, a university
freshman in Seoul.
"It was my first time trying and was shocked at
how easily it breaks!" she said after failing
the challenge while standing near An's stand.
In line with the show's viral explosion,
international viewers are posting their efforts
at making dalgona and passing the challenge on
video-sharing platform TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=dalgona&t=1633063164365
and other social media.
Even e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, eBay
and Coupang are selling dalgona cooking kits and
tools for as much as $29.99.
($1 = 1,187.4200 won)
(Reporting by Sangmi Cha, Minwoo Park and Dogyun
Kim; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
