Free Giveaway Goods Sold for 600,000 Won
Political Circles Also Focused on Courting Buyers
Affection and longing for the giant panda 'Fubao,' who returned to China, have not easily faded. Exploitative tactics taking advantage of this sentiment are rampant. As related goods (souvenirs) quickly sold out, posts offering to resell them at prices more than 10 times higher have appeared one after another.
On the 8th, a post appeared on a secondhand trading platform selling a limited edition keyring modeled after Fubao. It is a product released by Everland, where Fubao stayed, in collaboration with a leather company. The secondhand price of this product, originally sold by Everland for 60,000 won, recently rose to 800,000 won.
Not only paid products but also free goods have reached prices in the hundreds of thousands of won. On the 5th, to celebrate Children's Day, Everland distributed Fubao special badges to the first 500 visitors to the panda family experience gallery, and their current value is 600,000 won. The flags that Everland gave away for free to visitors on the day Fubao returned to China last month, on the 3rd, are also being traded for up to 200,000 won.
Retail Industry and Political Circles Also Embrace Pandas
With the situation like this, the retail industry also jumped on Fubao's popularity. Last month, duty-free shops released limited edition 'Bao Family' prepaid cards in collaboration with Everland. The cards come in two types, designed with photos of Fubao and the twin pandas 'Rui' and 'Huibao' born last year.
The travel industry also launched package tours visiting the Chinese panda bases. The tour includes the Wolong China Giant Panda Center in Sichuan Province, where Fubao was quarantined.
The political circles are no different. Hong Joon-pyo, mayor of Daegu, who had previously shown a lukewarm response to the Fubao craze, saying, "I don't understand the obsession of those fixated on Fubao. Fubao is just a panda who returned to its hometown," recently announced plans to negotiate with China to bring pandas to Daegu. He emphasized, "We are considering ways to bring pandas to Daegu to revitalize Daegu Grand Park. During my recent visit to Sichuan Province, the panda's hometown, I requested officials to lend pandas, and they said that if we get approval from the central government, we can bring them here."
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