Pocky

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Pocky logo

American Pocky

Pocky (ポッキー, pokkii^?) (Japanese pronunciation IPA: /pokːiː/) listen (help·info) is a Japanese snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico Company of Japan. It was first sold in 1965, under the name Chocoteck, and consists of a biscuit stick coated with chocolate. Pocky was an instant hit among Japanese teenagers, and brought in sales of 30 billion yen in its first two years. The name was changed to "Pocky", after the Japanese onomatopoetic word for the sound Pocky makes when bitten, pokkin (ポッキン). The original was followed by "Almond Pocky" in 1971, with an almond coating, and "Strawberry Pocky" in 1977. Today, the product line includes such variations as milk, mousse, green tea and coconut flavored coatings, and themed products such as "Decorer Pocky", with colorful decorative stripes in the coating, and "Men's Pocky", a dark (bittersweet) chocolate and "mature" version.

Pocky is very popular in Japan. In bars, it is sometimes served in a glass of ice water. It also has a significant presence in other East Asian countries such as China and South Korea. In Europe, Pocky is renamed Mikado after the game Mikado. In the United States and Canada, Pocky can be found in Asian supermarkets and the international section of most large supermarkets, such as Wegman's, as well as Wal-Mart Supercenters and anime convention dealers' rooms. In Malaysia, Pocky was renamed as Rocky, perhaps to avoid a vulgar word in Malay with similar pronunciation. Pocky has recently been marketed in America by LU, a company of the Danone Group, although it is also marketed by Ezaki Glico's American division, Ezaki Glico USA Corporation. In Australia, Pocky is usually sold in Japanese convenience markets along with other Japanese foods and products.

Outside of Japan, Pocky is fairly popular among Japanophiles and anime fans. Its constant association with the Engrish phenomenon and the oddness of some of its versions (like the "Men's Pocky" bittersweet flavor), as well as the several Pocky parodies seen on many anime/manga series, contribute to the snack's reputation.

In late 2006, the packaging of Pocky was changed from a rectangular prism into a square prism.

1 Pocky Flavors
2 Pronunciation
3 References to Pocky in popular culture
- 3.1 In manga and anime
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Pocky Flavors

For full list of flavors please see List of Pocky flavors

Pocky can be found in dozens of varieties. The most popular flavors include chocolate, strawberry, and almond. Some of the more unusual flavors include the seasonal flavors of honey (spring) and kiwifruit mango (summer). There is also the bittersweet version of chocolate Pocky called Men's Pocky. There are also regional flavors of Pocky such as grape (Nagano), yubari melon (Hokkaido), giant mikan (lemony, sold in Kyūshū), powdered tea azuki bean (Kyoto), Kobe wine (Kobe). There are also such flavors as banana, coffee, caramel, marble royal milk tea, melon, milk, cream cheese, berry, sweet potato, coconut, almond crush, pineapple, pumpkin, pizza and hazelnut.

Strawberry Pocky

Some other unique Pocky flavors include kurogama (black sesame), kinako (soy bean flour), and green tea, which are popular Asian cuisine items cleverly incorporated into dessert flavours.

Special variations of Pocky include Decorer Pocky (which features extra decorative icing) and Mousse Pocky (which features extra thick, mousse-like icing).

A related product is Pretz, which is a savoury version of Pocky that features flavours like tomato and salad.

[edit] Pronunciation

Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for a pronunciation key.

There is some confusion in the English-speaking world as to how to pronounce "Pocky." The Japanese pronunciation is /pokːiː/, but based on the English-style spelling and the katakana transcription which is consistent with the conventions of transcribing English to Japanese, one may assume that "Pocky" is intended to be an English-style word, albeit a made-up one. Since "Pocky" is one letter away from "rocky" and the Japanese pronunciation "pokkī" rhymes with the Japanese transcription of "rocky" ("rokkī"), the case could be made that an acceptable English pronunciation would be /ˈpɑki/ (US) or /ˈpɒki/ (UK).

[edit] References to Pocky in popular culture

Superchunk, an American indie rock band, named one of its albums No Pocky for Kitty.
Ze Frank from The Show has been known to eat Men's Pocky.^[1]
Gabe from Penny Arcade [1] enjoys Pocky, and has been known to binge eat it.
In the video game series Trauma Center, Dr. Derek Stiles and nurse Angie Thompson return to Caduceus USA after visiting Caduceus Japan. With them, they bring back souvenirs of Pocky.
In the VG Cats web comic, Johnny Evilguy has a special offer in his store that if you trade in a box of Pocky, then you'll get cards.
In the Applegeeks web comic, Hawk has a conversation with Megatokyo character Ping, and mentions Pocky as part of a send-up of Forrest Gump's famous bus stop conversation.^[2]

[edit] In manga and anime

Aoi House - Morgan is seen eating Pocky in vol. 1.
Card Captor Sakura - Kero is seen eating Pocky occasionally.
Coyote Ragtime Show - Inspector Angelica, a constant glutton, is seen numerous times eating a chocolate covered biscuit stick that looks somewhat like Pocky.
Dramacon - In the first volume, the main character Christie sees a sale on a parody of Pocky called "Pawky" and buys a bag -full while she is wandering in the dealers room. The back of the manga's art also shows Christie and Matt snacking on strawberry Pocky together.
Eureka Seven - A box of "Precky" with a box design closely resembling that of Pocky is seen on the shelves of the food storage room, resembling a combination of Pocky and Pretz.
Eyeshield 21 - In vol. 5 of the manga, a package of Pocky can be seen inside of Kurita's school bag during an inspection.
Getbackers - In one episode, Ban eats Pocky with a couple of girls.
Gravitation - The main character, Shuichi Shindou, is seen eating Pocky a lot while his lover Yuki is smoking. Shuichi's friend, Hiro, is also seen eating a Pocky in the first episode of the anime. In one manga they mention that his favorite flavor is Strawberry.
Harlem Beat - A basketball player named Sasuke Amami really likes his snack, Pocky Strawberry.
Hunter x Hunter - During an episode in the Trick Tower, the hunter judge, Liba, is seen eating Pocky while watching the examinees from his monitors.
Ichigo Mashimaro - In the episode, "Part-Time Jobs", Nobue is seen eating a stick of Pocky in annoyance of running out of cigarettes.
Midori no Hibi - Takako Ayase and Seiji Sawamura are told to eat to the middle of a stick of Pocky as the result of an osama game.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam - The Neo Hong Kong Prime Minister, Wong, is almost always seen with a glass of Pocky by his side.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - The character of Asuka Langley Soryu is shown in many posters and promotional photos holding Pocky and/or eating it.
Onegai Teacher - A parody of Pocky called "Pochy" in a box design closely resembling that of Pocky appeared numerous times as Mizuho Kazami's favorite snack.
Rozen Maiden - In the fifth episode of the first series, Shinku and Suiseiseki are eating Pocky's during a argument stand-off. Suiseiseki exaggerates the taste and sensation as to tempt Hinaichigo into surrendering.
School Rumble - Tsukamoto Tenma is seen anxiously eating Pocky on the bus to a field trip.
Simoun - Limone been seen eating Pocky, despite the series being set on another planet entirely.
Spirited Away - In the beginning of this Studio Ghibli film, a box of Pocky (actually called "Pock")can be seen on the car seat beside Chihiro.
Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko - The main character Yohko is always seen buying Pocky when she stops by stores.
Tramps Like Us - On the cover of vol. 1, Sumire is holding a box of "Pockin", with one stick in her mouth, resembling Pocky.

Yuzuriha eating "Rocky" in X/1999

Revolutionary Girl Utena - In one episode, three girls are seen in their room eating Pocky.
X/1999 - A parody of Pocky called "Pooky" in a box design closely resembling that of Pocky appeared. Also in the same series, Yuzuriha Nekoi can be seen eating a variation called "Rocky"