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| Shoppers pick out 2023 calendars at a bookstore in downtown Seoul, Dec. 19. Yonhap |
By Yoon Ja-young
With the New Year coming, it is time to replace 2022 calendars and diaries with new ones. There used to be plenty of free calendars and diaries around this time of the year, but that isn't the case anymore. Calendars issued by banks, which are especially popular among Koreans, are now hard to obtain and are being traded on the secondhand market.
Kwon, a housewife in Busan, visited a bank branch near her home to get a New Year calendar, but instead saw a notice that they had run out of stock. "I went to another bank branch, but they said they only give it to people who have transaction records with their bank. I had to ask one of my friends whose daughter is a bank teller to get me one," she said.
It was customary for companies, diverse organizations and even small businesses here to give out calendars and diaries to customers, business partners or even potential customers. They would put a lot of effort into the production of the calendars.
The calendars often feature paintings by renowned artists, based on themes chosen by the company after much consideration. Once the calendar is chosen by the customer, it will be on the wall for the whole year, reminding the customer of the company brand every day. Bank employees go out into the streets to distribute their calendars as a part of marketing and promotional campaigns. Many people thus ended up getting more calendars and diaries than they needed, and they would pick the best among them and share the extra ones with others or sometimes even discard them.
There is no such abundance anymore and chances are one probably has to buy a calendar somewhere if they need it. The scarcity is partly due to the decrease in demand for paper calendars. Smartphones are substituting calendars and diaries. It is also because businesses are cutting down on expenses amid the economic slowdown. "One of my key customers asked if he could get some leather journals issued by my company. However, the company limited it to only one per employee," a worker of a state-run enterprise said.
The country's four largest banking groups ― KB, Shinhan, Hana and Woori ― printed a total of around 5.05 million calendars for next year, which is down 40,000 from the previous year. The banks also cite their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) management principles as a reason for the scarcity. To protect the environment, they are cutting down on the use of paper.
However, there is still significant demand for paper calendars, especially for ones issued by banks. It is because there is a common belief in Korea that a bank calendar on the wall will bring in money.
As the supply of bank calendars falls short of demand, some are turning their eyes to the secondhand market. On Daangn Market, a platform for trading used items, 2023 wall calendars issued by banks are traded at around 3,000 won, while desk calendars are priced at around 5,000 won. The Woori Bank calendar featuring K-pop singer IU, the financial group's advertising model, is especially popular, traded at as high as 10,000 won.
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