K-Pop Stars and Celebrities Join Lotte's 'Find Your Name' Snack Craze

A snack has taken the South Korean entertainment world by storm, captivating stars like BTS's Jungkook, IVE's Jang Wonyoung, and singer IU. Lotte Wellfood's 'Find Your Name' event with Kancho cookies has celebrities eagerly sharing photos of the snack on social media. The event involves finding a cookie with one's name among the randomly printed Korean names on Kancho cookies.

On the 18th, Jang Wonyoung posted several photos on her social media account, lamenting, "There's no Wonyoung," as she examined the names on the cookies. Despite her efforts, she couldn't find her name, pouting in disappointment.

According to the distribution industry, Lotte Wellfood concluded the 'Find Your Name' event on the 16th, which ran for three months starting in September. The event encouraged participants to find their names among 500 human names and four character names printed on Kancho cookies and share them on social media.

Many celebrities, including Jang Wonyoung, participated in the event, creating a buzz. BTS's Jungkook was notably involved, conducting a 'Kancho unboxing' on the fan communication platform Weverse Live on the 28th and 29th of last month. He searched for his name 'Jungkook' among the cookies during the live session, which reportedly peaked at 10.8 million viewers.

Afterwards, Jungkook expressed his disappointment, saying, "There's no Jungkook on Kancho," and "I've been opening one a day, but still nothing." It was later revealed that 'Jungkook' was not among the 500 names, leading fans to comment on his adorable persistence.

IU also joined in, checking the names on the cookies via the fan platform 'Berryz.' She remarked, "I thought my common name would appear quickly, but surprisingly, it didn't." After opening a second bag, she listed names like "Haeun, Youngjin, Yoona, A-yoon, Soyeon, Hayeon, Hoyun," noting, "There's no Jieun. There's Ji-hye and Ji-in, but no Jieun." Failing to find her name, IU humorously combined cookies with 'Ji' and 'Eun' to create her name.

Actress Song Hye-kyo was the first among them to find her name, sharing a photo of a Kancho cookie with 'Hye-kyo' on her Instagram story last month.

According to the distribution industry, the event tripled Kancho's sales, with over 3 million bags sold during the event period. Despite Lotte Wellfood expanding production lines, they couldn't keep up with the demand. Due to the overwhelming response, Lotte Wellfood announced plans for the next season of 'Find Your Name.'

By Min-Kyung Lee, Ten Asia Reporter 2min_ror@tenasia.co.kr