"I Only Trust You"... Food Industry's Year-End Savior 'Ojingeo Game 2'

Netflix Original Released on the 26th
Collaborative Products Launched in Frozen, Confectionery, and Alcohol Categories
High Buzz and Fandom... Expected to Boost Sales and Awareness

Johnny Walker Limited Edition 'Johnny Walker Black Squid Game Edition'. Provided by Diageo Korea

Amid the economic downturn and the political turmoil surrounding the presidential impeachment, the food industry, which has been struggling, is gearing up to capture the year-end market by leveraging the highly anticipated Netflix series "Squid Game Season 2."

According to the distribution industry on the 25th, CJ CheilJedang is conducting a global campaign featuring its food brand "Bibigo" and Squid Game in 14 countries worldwide, including Korea, the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan. The collaboration products between Bibigo and Squid Game Season 2 focus on Bibigo's core strategic items such as K-street food, dumplings, kimchi, and seaweed snacks, with product assortments tailored to meet local consumer needs in each country. In Korea, last month, they introduced Bibigo frozen tteokbokki, three types of cup tteokbokki, wang gyoja (king dumplings), and whole shrimp dumplings.

Bibigo X Squid Game Season 2 Global Campaign. CJ CheilJedang

Haitai Confectionery also launched the Squid Game Roasted Potato Slim, recreating the popular dalgona candy picking game from Season 1. Instead of sugar dalgona, this product is made by thinly roasting potatoes and engraving the picking shapes on top, designed to add the fun of the game to the enjoyment of eating. Additionally, Ottogi introduced "Bbusyeo Bbusyeo Butter Grilled Squid Flavor" featuring Squid Game designs, and Burger King released the "456 Croquette," a potato croquette shaped like the "○△□" symbols.

The alcoholic beverage industry is also rolling out collaborative products one after another. HiteJinro launched the "Chamisul Squid Game Edition" soju featuring Squid Game characters such as Young-hee, Pink Guard, and Front Man. The Chamisul logo's "ㅁ·ㅇ·ㅅ" is colored pink, the signature color of Squid Game, representing the Pink Guard's ranks with circle, triangle, and square shapes, enhancing the design's appeal. Alongside this, related merchandise like the "Young-hee Game Console" was also released, allowing consumers to enjoy both the content and the products together.

Chamisul x Squid Game 2 Chamisul Bottle 3 Types. Provided by HiteJinro

Diageo Korea also incorporated Squid Game into its flagship whiskey brand "Johnnie Walker." The limited-edition "Johnnie Walker Black Squid Game Edition" features the iconic "Striding Man" wearing a green tracksuit instead of a suit, reflecting symbolic elements from the content in the label design. Notably, the diagonal label includes unique numbers inspired by Squid Game participant numbers from 001 to 456, allowing consumers to collect numbers with personal significance such as birthdays or anniversaries.

The reason the food industry is fervently engaging in Squid Game intellectual property (IP) marketing is due to the show's high popularity and fandom, which are expected to boost direct sales of collaborative products as well as enhance domestic and international brand recognition. Given that Season 1 sparked a global phenomenon, products collaborating with the sequel are anticipated to increase consumer interest and purchasing desire. Furthermore, Netflix's strategy to strengthen its position as an IP company through various partnerships based on original content is accelerating marketing efforts linked to this.

Ottogi Bbusyeo Bbusyeo X Squid Game production still. Provided by Ottogi

In fact, Squid Game marketing is already showing results. Ottogi announced that cumulative sales of two newly launched Bbusyeo Bbusyeo products exceeded 1.6 million units about 50 days after release last month. Ottogi noted that whenever global content like Squid Game gains popularity, the global snack market experiences a surge. An Ottogi representative explained, "As consumers increasingly enjoy snacks while watching OTT content at home, similar to buying popcorn and drinks at the cinema, snack product sales have risen. Especially among the 20s and 30s age group, there is a clear tendency to consume snacks along with alcohol and beverages, which was considered when launching these collaborative products."

Meanwhile, "Squid Game Season 1," released in 2021, continues to hold the title of Netflix's highest-grossing work amid worldwide popularity. The Season 2 trailer has also recorded the highest views among Netflix trailers this year, making it the most anticipated release for the year-end.