How Pocky is giving its 60-year-old brand a Gen Z glow up

Glico Asia Pacific is giving Pocky one of its biggest brand updates to date as the snack brand marks its 60th anniversary.

The refresh comes under a year-long regional campaign titled “Connect with a smile”, which aims to reposition Pocky as a snack that sparks real-life connection, particularly among Gen Z consumers. The campaign will roll out across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, supported by promotional activations, pop culture partnerships, refreshed creative assets and social-first content.

As part of the brand update, Glico is introducing a new packaging design across the full Pocky range. The refreshed look features brighter, more vivid graphics intended to give the boxes a more contemporary and youthful feel, while retaining the warmth and playful identity the brand is known for.

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The new design will span eight flavours: chocolate, strawberry, cookies & cream, milky matcha, double chocolate, nutty almond, milk chocolate and milk.

Alongside the packaging refresh, Pocky chocolate will also feature an improved recipe, designed to deliver a more chocolatey taste and crispier snap. According to Glico, the product update reflects its continued focus on innovation while staying true to the taste and sharing occasion that have made Pocky a long-standing favourite.

The new boxes will launch across Glico’s regional markets from June 2026, beginning with Thailand. Market-specific campaign activities and consumer engagement initiatives will be announced progressively across Southeast Asia.

“For 60 years, Pocky has been one of the simplest ways for people to share happiness, express care, and connect with one another,” said Yukio Kimura, chief operating officer, Glico Asia Pacific.

“'Connect with a smile' celebrates that magic while giving Pocky a fresh new look. As we celebrate this milestone, our goal here is to keep creating products and moments that bring people across Southeast Asia closer together and spark joy into everyday life, guided by our company purpose ‘Healthier days, wellbeing for life’,” added Kimura. 

First launched in Japan in 1966, Pocky has grown from a chocolate-coated biscuit stick into one of Glico’s most recognisable global brands. Its signature uncoated “handle” was designed to make the snack easy to hold and share, helping shape its long-running positioning around connection and shared happiness.

The latest campaign builds on that heritage by spotlighting everyday gestures of connection, from sharing a box with friends and classmates to passing a stick across the table. Through the refresh, Glico is looking to keep the brand relevant for younger consumers while reinforcing Pocky’s role as a snack made for sharing.

The regional refresh comes as Pocky continues to localise its brand storytelling across Southeast Asia. In Malaysia last year, the brand marked the country’s 68th National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations with the launch of two limited-edition flavours, Pocky durian and Pocky ondeh-ondeh, under the campaign theme “Share the taste of heritage”.

The flavours paid tribute to local favourites, with Pocky durian featuring a creamy durian-chocolate coating made with real durian, while Pocky ondeh-ondeh combined pandan chocolate, desiccated coconut and a palm sugar-flavoured biscuit stick. The festive packs also featured Peranakan-inspired designs, highlighting Malaysia’s colourful cultural heritage and the use of real ingredients.

To bring the campaign to life, Pocky Malaysia also commissioned a street mural by local artist Abdulrashade along Jalan Doraisamy in Chow Kit, near Heritage Row. The artwork fused traditional motifs with youthful elements such as photography and skateboarding, while a short brand film set against a traditional kampung house further spotlighted the two limited-edition flavours.

In the Philippines, Pocky and dentsu Philippines previously launched “POCKY SABI”, a campaign rooted in the local concept of hiya, or the sense of modesty and social inhibition that can make expressing affection feel daunting. Inspired by the phrase “paki sabi”, meaning “please tell them”, the campaign positioned Pocky as a playful vessel for unspoken love and quiet confessions.

At the heart of the campaign was an Instagram filter that allowed users to send anonymous love messages while concealing their identity, tapping into Gen Z’s comfort with filtered and digital self-expression. The idea was also brought offline through confession booths across campuses in Metro Manila, where students could submit messages that were later published anonymously on a dedicated microsite. TikTok creators further amplified the campaign, connecting digital and physical touchpoints in a bid to make young love feel a little less intimidating.

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