Dubai chewy cookie giveaways boost blood donations

Donor numbers double at eight centers in Seoul after viral dessert promotion

Dubai chewy cookies prepared for blood donors are displayed at a blood donation center in Busan on Friday. (Yonhap)

The ongoing dessert craze for Dubai chewy cookies, better known by the local shorthand "dujjonku," has unexpectedly driven early morning rushes at blood donation centers nationwide.

The Busan Blood Center under Korean Red Cross Blood Services launched a one-day event Friday morning, offering 650 dujjonku cookies at 13 blood donation centers across the city, according to news reports.

Earlier on Jan. 16, eight blood donation centers operated by its Seoul branch, including those near Seoul Station and in the Hongdae area of Seodaemun-gu, handed out 50 dujjonku cookies each to donors on a first come, first served basis.

A total of 668 people donated blood throughout the day, more than double the 308 donors a week earlier, officials said.

"I never really cared about donating blood before, so it was kind of embarrassing to come just for the dujjonku," said Kim Jo-eun, a 21-year-old college student living in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, who recently donated blood for the viral cookie. "I should probably donate blood more often, even when it's not about dujjonku."

Riding on the dujjonku boom, the giveaway events came amid a winter blood shortage attributed to reduced outdoor activity, school vacations and seasonal influenza.

At a blood donation center in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, Dubai chewy cookies are prepared to be given to donors on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

Since early December last year, the stockpile of red blood cell products has fallen below 30,000 units, a level considered sufficient for fewer than five days, data showed.

The number of blood donors has also steadily decreased, from 214,446 in January 2024 to 188,617 a year later.

A poster promoting a blood donation campaign run by the Korean Red Cross offers photo cards of boy band Enhypen to donors. (KRC)

"The events aim to attract teenagers and people in their 20s, as well as first-time blood donors," a KRC official said. "We plan to continue rolling out a variety of giveaway promotions to encourage blood donations."

The organization is also running a blood donation campaign through Sunday offering photo cards of K-pop group Enhypen to donors who give whole blood or platelets at its blood donation centers at Gangnam Station, Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu and Seongsu-dong in Seoul.