An Yong-hui, a Seoul street vendor who made the dalgonas – a honeycomb biscuit featured in the drama, told Reuters that fans start queueing outside his street kitchen at 11am, and he now sells 500 a day, compared with his pre- Squid Game sale of 200. Released in 2021 on the Netflix streaming platform, Squid Game is a South Korean TV series that was written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The unique concept is inspired by a popular Korean children’s game of the same name, which pits two team against each other on a squid-shaped board.

Although it might seem like the shapes on the worker’s masks are random, since all workers are clearly ranked “lower” than the Front Man and the VIPs, the three different shapes actually represent three different, ranked categories of workers. The contestants on Squid Game do not wear masks, although other measures are taken to partially diminish their identities. The contestants all wear the same uniform as each other, the only difference being the number that is printed on the uniform. To further take away their identities, the workers only ever refer to the contestants by their numbers, not their names. Although the contestants sometimes call each other by name, they do not have names in Squid Game.

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However, there is also a psychological aspect as to why the people running Squid Game wear masks, and why it is against the rules for them to ever remove their masks. The anonymity of the “bad guys” in Squid Game adds to their eeriness—the contestants do not know who is coming up with these twisted versions of children’s games, or who is willing to pay this huge sum of money just to watch a bunch of desperate people die. Not knowing who these people are or what their motivations are makes their actions scarier. The Front Man seems to realize this—he tells a worker not to remove his mask in front of the contestants, because “once they know who you are, you lose everything.” Since the debut of Squid Game, it has received tons of praise and become one of the most successful shows ever released on streaming, having topped the platform’s weekly most-watched list. This popularity extends globally, attracting audiences in both the US and UK. Claim Your Winnings

Are you ready to play the most dangerous game in the world? Then browse Zavvi UK’s wide range of Squid Game merchandise. We have loads of ‘prizes’ available for you to discover, including officially licensed clothing items. A Game Of Life And Death Prepare to face a trial of deadly consequences with Zavvi US’s wide range of Squid Game merchandise. There are loads of prizes up for grabs, including officially licensed clothing items and homeware. The Rules Of Hell After 10 years of delays, with investors and actors shying away from a story that involves competing to the death for money, the intensity of finally filming the series caused him to lose six teeth to stress. Despite the trepidations of the contestants, most of them choose to continue. The rest of the series places these characters — including Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon), a North Korean defector; Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su), an old man with a brain tumor; Jang Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae), an indebted gangster; and Han Mi-nyeo (Kim Joo-ryoung) — into a number of life-ending games. Claim Your WinningsElsewhere, however, Netflix has partnered with Zavvi in the United Kingdom to sell Squid Game merchandise which includes shoes. Pop-up shops in locations such as Paris have also appeared. Netflix also recently launched a Sex Education storefront with hoodies and T-shirts. They’re customizable in the sense you’re able to change the school’s logo and color. Girls buying dalgonas in Seoul – Squid Game has boosted business for the street vendors who sell them. Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images There may or may not be symbolic meanings behind the specific animals depicted on the VIP masks. The deer symbolizes the divine, so the person wearing the deer mask might be a religious leader. The tiger represents power, so the person wearing a tiger mask might be a politician. The bull symbolizes wealth, so he might be in banking or finance. There is a myth where Korean people descend from a bear-woman, so the person in a bear mask might be related to royalty or some important national figure. However, these are just guesses as to which lucrative careers fit into which animal’s general symbolism.

Although the contestants are robbed of some aspects of their identity, they still do not wear masks. This makes the contestants vulnerable to some degree—other people can see exactly who they are and will not get them confused with someone else. So, given just about everyone is on the hype right now, merchandise is only natural. There’s a lot of good stuff out there. The show’s other-worldly costumes and cool urban South Korean aesthetics make a great mood-board for some great designs.

Netflix’s Squid Game has hit hard. The show has been watched by tens of millions worldwide, and to generally high-acclaim. The highly watchable show has obliterated many sleeping patterns as people stay up for another, and another episode, waiting to see just what happens to the contestants of these life-changing (and life-threatening) games. With Halloween approaching, the show – which revolves around a group of 456 people who compete for a lifetime supply of money by playing life-or-death bouts of grandmother’s footsteps, among other games – has also spawned an onslaught of lookalike costumes. The workers with a circle on their masks are the “lowest” ranked. They are responsible for completing basic but necessary tasks on the island, such as cleaning, serving food to contestants, mopping up blood, removing corpses from the game areas, and incinerating the bodies of dead contestants. The circle workers do not even speak unless they are spoken to first by a superior. The show’s plot focuses on a character called Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a man who has accrued a sizable amount of debt as a result of his gambling habit. Struggling financially, he accepts an offer made by a stranger to join a high-stakes game that could solve his monetary woes. He is taken to an unknown location, where he finds 455 other players. They are informed by masked staff — including the ominous Front Man — that whoever wins six games will be given a substantial sum of money. However, these games have deadly consequences for the losers. Gi-hun discovers this when he participates in the first game, ‘Red Light, Green Light’, watching as his fellow players are gunned down. Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Squid Game, said he came up with the idea while broke and living with his mother and grandmother. At one point, he was forced to sell his laptop for cash.