Squid Game challenge goes viral: a Singaporean cafe is the latest to take part in the ‘dalgona challenge’ made famous by Netflix series

The Brown Butter Cafe in Singapore is the latest business to tap the Squid Game hype and the drama of the ‘sweet and deadly’ dalgona challenge

An Yong-hui, the seller who provided the confection for the show, now sells more than 500 dalgonas a day, from fewer than 200 before Squid Game’s premiere

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A street vendor sells dalgona from the Korean Netflix series Squid Game in Seoul, South Korea. One of the challenges in the show involves a piece of this confectionery. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:15pm, 5 Oct 2021Updated: 6:42pm, 8 Oct 2021

A South Korean sweet featured as one of the lethal challenges in the Netflix hit television drama Squid Game has become a global craze, boosting business for the seller who provided the confection for the show.

The series has become a viral hit by depicting childhood games with deadly consequences. One of the challenges has the cash-strapped contestants on the show carving out the symbol etched into a brittle sugar confectionery called dalgona without cracking the whole piece – or risk being shot by masked enforcers.

In line with the show’s viral explosion, international viewers are posting their efforts at making dalgona and passing the challenge on video-sharing platform TikTok and other social media.

E-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Korean company Coupang are selling dalgona cooking kits and tools for as much as US$30.

Dalgona is typically sold with a variety of shapes. Photo: Reuters

In Singapore, the Brown Butter Cafe is the latest business to tap the Squid Game hype and the drama of the dalgona challenge.

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