The first thing I did when I moved to Korea, after setting aside my suitcases, was download KakaoTalk. There are two different chats for all the teachers at school–one for general information, and one for pictures of the kindergarten students that later get sent home to parents. I have a handful of one-on-one chats and some group chats where I can look forward to Meme day every Wednesday.
To say that KakaoTalk is a messaging app used by Koreans of every age is an understatement. I use KakaoBus to time leaving my house in the morning, and should I be running late, KakaoT(axi) will get me to where I need to go. There’s also KakaoMetro and KakaoMap, even KakaoPay and KakaoBank. Moving a conversation off of a dating app to KakaoTalk is seen as A Thing here. Kakao is more than just a simple internet company–it’s a brand. And along with that comes brand imaging, and Kakao does not disappoint.
Introducing: KakaoFriends, which started out as KakaoTalk emoticons and took on a life all their own.
a large figurine of Ryan, an orange lion without a mane, holding a to-go coffee cup in one paw and resting his other arm on a small table where there is a sign about requiring masks to be worn and a bottle of hand sanitizer
My favorite Kakao character is Jordy, a “dinosaur that has been kept secret since its existence.” Ryan, a mane-less lion and Apeach, a… peach, are two of the more popular characters, but I’d like to also highlight Muzi, who is actually a piece of pickled daikon radish in a… rabbit costume. Listen, just go with it. They’re cute.
There are a few KakaoFriends stores, but my friend and I went to the flagship store in Gangnam. (Unfortunately, we were there too early to visit the café on the third floor.)
the exterior of the KakaoFriends store, featuring a large glass windows that have a picture of Esther Bunny (non-Kakao character) in a collaboration with APeach
stairs to the second floorlaptop cases on display; there’s also a small table with a few chairs, along with a Jordy plushiesome more seating and phone cases and other accessoriesAPeach and Kang Daniel collab with phone cases and photocard booksmostly Ryan and APeach accessoriesa wall of plushies and plushie keychainssome Ryan figurines in a glass casea wall of plushies, each in their own spaceview of the first floorKakaoFriends and golfing accessorieslarge figurine of Neo, a blue cat with black hair, putting on makeupKakaoFriends pajamascups featuring Jordy, a green oval-shaped dinosaur with little yellow rounded spikes on his backa Ryan and Ottogi Ketchup collab, featuring phone cases, plushies and airpod casesRyan as a guard to the Queen and APeach as the Queen phone cases and keychainssuitcases and luggage tags display of “Yum Yum Friends” featuring the KakaoFriends with fruits and vegetablesthank you plushies of Ryan and Jordya large figurine of Muzi, a yellow pickled radish wearing a white rabbit costume, holding a carrot while his mini crocodile friend pulls on hima Ryan and Fritz coffee collab; Fritz coffee’s mascot is a seal wearing a hata display of Jordy plushies and neon lights spelling the main characterswall of plushiestwo people stand looking at a display of Jordy goods while a figurine of Ryan in a sky blue hoodie stands beside themthe figurine of Jordy with an “on air” sign lit up behind hima cut-out of Jordy writing a letterletters to Jordy hanging on the walla green postbox with Jordy on topthe Jordy displayview from the stairsa view of the newer released charactersview of the stairsview of the first floor
Who’s your favorite character?
yours truly next to a Jordy figurine behind the booth of a cute fake radio station
Koffee & Kpop 