Pocky day 11.11 - Take the Pocky Heart-to-Heart TikTok Challenge and tap into the joy of gift-giving

Tweet

Glico Philippines, Inc. is celebrating Pocky day (11.11) this November 11, 2022 with a new TikTok challenge that combines the Filipino culture of gift-giving with a cute Pocky[1] trend popularized in Japan. The Pocky Heart-to-Heart TikTok Challenge is perfect for those looking to showcase their love to the ones they hold dearest.

Every year since, Glico celebrates Pocky day globally on 11.11, because this popular Japanese snack that everyone loves looks like the number “1”

Pocky Happiness Flavour for winners

The tradition of giving gifts or pasalubong to loved ones is an integral part of the Filipino culture; this generosity and thoughtfulness are traits that perfectly resonate with Pocky’s brand philosophy of sharing happiness with everyone. This is why Pocky has chosen to celebrate their biggest day of the year, 11.11, with a gift-giving challenge for everyone in the Philippines to show their utmost love to those closest to them in the upcoming festive season.

If you have someone you want to show your love and appreciation to, here‘s how you can join the Pocky Heart-to-Heart TikTok Challenge:

Create a heart with Pocky boxes — Using at least two Pocky boxes, put your creativity and skills to work, and shape them into a heart. You can even decorate the Pocky heart with ribbons, flowers or anything else that adds to the love you put into the gift.

Give your Pocky heart to a loved one — With your valid TikTok account, take a video of you giving your Pocky Heart to someone you want to show your appreciation for. Make sure to share your happiness with us by telling us why you’re giving this person the Pocky Heart.

Share your love to the world! — Post the video on TikTok with the hashtag #PockyHearttoHeart!

Whether it’s a partner, an old friend, a teacher or your grandparents, there is bound to be someone dear to show your love to. Take the Pocky Heart-to-Heart TikTok Challenge and showcase your love in a Heart-to-Heart “Tok” with your loved ones. If you post the best entry, you’ll win a cash prize and a special limited-edition gift pack with “Pocky Happiness Flavour”!

You can complete the challenge in the comfort of your home, in a fancy venue of your choice, or at one of our Pocky day event booths coming soon to a space near you! Follow the Pocky Philippines Facebook and Glico Philippines Instagram to find out the locations of these events as they open up.

■ Communication

Official Facebook　https://www.facebook.com/PockyPhilippines

Official Instagram　https://www.instagram.com/glico_ph/

Glico Brand Store (Shopalyst) https://shop-ph-glico.com/brandstore/glico

Glico Asia Pacific website https://www.glico.com/sg/

-----------------------

About Glico

On February 11, 2022, the Glico Group celebrated the 100th year of its founding. In 1922, Glico’s nutritious Glico caramel in its distinctive red box first hit the shelves of a department store. Headquartered in Japan, Glico has since expanded into Asia Pacific, European, and North American markets with the aspiration to stay true to its founding spirit of enhancing people’s health through food.

Led by its well-loved confectionary brands such as Pocky, Pretz, and Pejoy, Glico has now expanded its portfolio* to include ice cream products, baby formula, milk products, desserts, food ingredients, and raw materials for cosmetic and health products. Its health and wellness offerings such as the SUNAO range of zero sucrose, low carbohydrate food products and Almond Koka almond milk are gaining popularity outside of Japan after becoming a hit in its domestic market.

https://www.glico.com/global/

About Pocky

Since its launch in Japan in 1966, Pocky has maintained its core concept while gradually changing its packaging and formulation to meet the times and society. The new Pocky range was launched in the Philippines on June 8 in 2022 to suit the changing consumption scene and purchasing behavior in Southeast Asia. With growing health consciousness, more and more consumers are looking for healthier choices and more guilt-free products. In line with such willing, we added fiber into the pretzel of Pocky which offers more health benefits. We also added wholewheat into the pretzel which gives it a lighter and crispier texture. The rich and smooth chocolate gives the right balance of sweetness while enhancing the unique aroma of the chocolate flavors by adjusting the ratio of cream to biscuit.

About Pocky day

Pocky day was established in 2016 as a day to encourage people to start sharing happiness. November 11 was chosen because the Pocky biscuit stick resembles the number “1”. It was first organized on November 11 in 1999, the eleventh year of the Japanese Heisei era: 11/11/11. It is an official day recognized by the Japan Anniversary Association[2].

We hope that Pocky day will not only become the day to think of and appreciate the important people in your life, but also a day to take action and make them happy.

[1] “Pocky” is a trademark of Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.

[2] https://cp.pocky.jp/pp1111/en/

GANCUBE: The Best Puzzle Toy for Kids and Adults

Tweet

GANCUBE is one of the most popular activities / games around the world and is suitable for people of all ages. This thing is for fast cubing or for playing with your friends or kids.

This is great for anyone who enjoys solving puzzles, motivate yourself during long hours of working or spending time on a project, challenge yourself, improve your spatial skills or just fascinated with puzzles, even 3D puzzles.

Here are some features of GANCUBE that can be helpful for various reasons:

• discover fun while playing the cube puzzle
• solving the cube puzzle
• can enhance your mental ability to solve problems
• help you sharpen your memory
• can enhance your hand-eye combination and focus,
• help you develop concentration
• and concentration and logical thinking
• widen your patience
• help you improve your reasoning and decision-making skills

This GANCUBE is design to ensure easy functioning and fun. The smooth rotation and the corner-cutting design can make the cube turn faster than other puzzles. You can use this cube for fast cubing without any hassle.

Gancube.com, the global leader in the speed cube industry. Based on its own deep insight into the market and the groundbreaking design, GANCUBE successfully created premium flagship products like GANI1M Pro, GAN356 XS, and GAN356 X, besides intelligent Series, Magnetic Series, Light Series, and Irregular Series. As a world-renowned speed cube brand, GANCUBE products have been sold to more than 100 countries or regions worldwide and are considered as the “APPLE INC.” in Rubik’s cube community.

GANCUBE is committed in promoting global influence of speedcube sports. GAN Gurus team held sponsorships, like recently World-Class competitions sponsorship.

As the world-famous speedcube brand, GANCUBE, with breakthrough innovative designs, including smart cubes, Magnetic cubes, Light-Weighted, twisty puzlles, cube robots and other products. GANCUBE continues to develop more intelligent related products, to help cubers intelligently master cubing by “Intelligent” ways.

GANCUBE is the brand you'll most probably find in most toy stores, or supermarkets and most in gift shops.

Enjoy and explore the wonderful world of GANCUBE whose features you'll like the most. 

Happy Cubing everyone!

I-check out mo na yan: Shopping on Lazada now made easier with Home Credit’s Qwarta!

Tweet

In the past years, there has been a dramatic shift in consumers’ shopping behaviors. From trying on clothes in actual boutiques and pushing carts along grocery aisles, Filipino consumers are now taking most of their shopping online — doing virtual try-ons, filling up their digital carts, and checking out those purchases through swipes and clicks.

And this trend is not going anywhere as more and more consumers are gaining easy access to technology and digital tools, and realizing the convenience of being able to shop anywhere. To keep up with this trend and the increasing consumer demands, Home Credit Philippines, the lifestyle partner of every Filipino, is teaming up with Lazada Philippines to provide Filipinos with a more rewarding and accessible shopping experience.

Starting October 19, Home Credit’s Qwarta clients can top up their Lazada wallets using Qwarta credits — making online shopping and checking out even easier!

Credit in an app!

Qwarta is Home Credit’s virtual limit provided to its existing customers with good track record and payment history. It is an additional Php 10,000 spending limit within the Home Credit app to increase Home Credit customers’ purchasing power.

Qwarta can be used to pay bills and utilities without additional cost, shop or buy loads with discounts, purchase via QR Code, and earn rewards!

Check out now, pay later!

Been eyeing to check out something off your cart but your wallet just can’t grant that yet? Home Credit and Lazada’s partnership now allows Qwarta users to check out and use their Qwarta credits and pay the entire amount in monthly installments.

Tempted yet? Here’s more: Qwarta users are also saving on processing fees and hidden charges, plus tons of exclusive promos and discounts to avail! Most importantly, Qwarta users are assured of safe and secured processing and shopping experience with both brands adhering to stringent security measures.

Check out with Qwarta in few, easy steps

It’s just as easy as one, two, three: Qwarta users only need to grab their phones and open their My Home Credit App. Then select “Top up” from the app dashboard, choose a gift card amount, review your payment details and confirm by entering your PIN. Lastly, copy the Lazada Gift Card code and redeem it in the Lazada App — just that quick!

For Lazada users, you can also easily top up your wallet by opening the Lazada app, and accessing your Lazada wallet. Select ‘Loans’ and choose Home Credit as your top-up option and voila! You’re all set to check out those Lazada trendy and affordable finds, and get them quickly through the platform's fast and free shipping.

And what’s good about this is that when topping up an amount on Lazada or redeeming the Lazada Gift Card code through the Home Credit app, the funds will be credited real-time!

So what are you waiting for? I-check out mo na yan today by downloading the My Home Credit App and topping up your Lazada Wallet with your Qwarta credits!

Home Credit Philippines is a financing company duly licensed and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). To learn more about the latest updates from Home Credit Philippines, visit its official website www.homecredit.ph. You may also follow its official Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. Customers are encouraged to download the Home Credit App on Google Play to know more about the latest promos and see what is new in the Marketplace.

Don’t Get Fooled: Here’s How You Can Stay Safe Online Amid Scams and Frauds

Tweet

Scams and frauds designed to gain access to your online profiles—including your digital banking accounts—have been around for years now. But they have noticeably been more frequent and aggressive lately. For instance, you have probably received SMS messages with suspicious-looking links. What’s scary is how these messages now have your name, making them look more legitimate. Others have gotten phishing emails that, at first glance, seem like formal communication from banks or other financial services. It’s becoming harder to distinguish what’s fake from what’s real.

And if you may think it’s easy to identify these schemes, you would be surprised to know that these scams are becoming more and more sophisticated everyday. For one, there are scams, specifically made to target you and your own online habits to better catch you off guard. As scammers evolve their tactics quickly, more and more people have fallen victim to these fraudulent online attacks. In this article, learn some tips and steps on how you can protect yourself from cyber fraud attacks.

Don’t give out personal info mindlessly

Cyber fraud attempts work by making you believe you are talking to a legitimate financial organization or a trusted institution. The email or messages they send will address you by name and often contain personal information no one else should be privy to aside from the companies and services you officially do business with. These scams collect your information beforehand by perusing your social media accounts and other public online forums. Sometimes, the attempts are more targeted: sending you supposed online forms you need to fill up or calling you directly to ask for your personal information in the guise of confirming it for a service or promo.

Treat your personal information as a valuable asset as it is the key that fraudsters use to trick you to unlock your account. Do not post your full name, birth date, address, and other information related to your digital accounts online. Be wary of strangers trying to add you as a contact on your social media accounts as well, as this could simply be a way to get information out of you for future, more specific fraud attempts. To be sure, financial organizations and trusted companies will not call to ask for your info. And they will not call you using an unofficial contact number unprompted.

Be cautious of who you talk to

Scams are made to make you lower your defenses and give out information that could allow fraudsters to access your financial accounts. Often, this is done through emails purportedly from official institutions designed to make you reveal important info such as bank account passwords, credit card details, and digital bank app details. And now, these frauds use SMS and video calls too.

You can detect a scam message by looking at some telltale signs. Scam emails, for instance, usually come from a public email domain account and not the official company email. Some fraud attacks have legitimate-looking email addresses but with a carefully placed misspelling to make it seem official. If you receive a supposed email from your bank that has some typographical errors, it’s a telltale sign.re more direct, asking for your password, card expiry date and CVV, or one-time password (OTP) via video call. A trusted company would never ask for such details via an email, SMS, phone, and video call.

Be mindful of your online—and offline—action and habits

The techniques today usually involve a link that scammers will entice you to click or visit through a promise of job offers or online shopping discounts, among others. These links can lead you to malicious websites that download viruses, ransomware, and other types of malware to your device. Malware is a software that can damage your device. At its worst, it can give scrupulous individuals unauthorized access to your device—and ultimately, all the information stored and saved there. Hence, you should be careful when you receive links from unknown or suspicious individuals. Don’t click links from unknown origins. With telecommunication services starting to ban links in SMS, scammers have used creative ways to include them in their text messages, such as playing with the typography or adding spaces in the website URL. It takes a bit more effort to access the link now, but it also means you still get disruptive spam messages.

But you need to be mindful of your offline actions, too. Scammers don’t just rely on online schemes to get your information. There have been reports, for instance, of scammers approaching you in public, asking to borrow your phone due to an emergency only to try to get your digital bank details and OTP. Others simply look over your shoulders when you make online transactions in public. The rule of thumb is to always keep sensitive information protected. Do not share it with anybody, and make sure your device is secured and out of the sight of other people when you make transactions online in a public place.

But cybersecurity is a shared responsibility between you and your financial service providers. As you take steps to make sure your financial accounts remain safe, your bank should take every step possible with its features, services, and even cyber security education to ensure your hard-earned money is secure and away from the hands of scrupulous online scammers.

RCBC’s fight against cyber fraud

As Rizal Commercial Corporation (RCBC) continues its thrust to accelerate digital adoption with secure and convenient digital services, it also carries on the fight against cybercrime. RCBC believes that the push for digital banking goes hand-in-hand with efforts to provide efficient and secure service.

During RCBC’s #DontGetFooled: Staying Safe Online webinar on security awareness held on October 12, 2022, RCBC Chief Information Security Officer Carlos Tengkiat reiterated how successful online fraud has been in targeting individuals, but has yet to successfully infiltrate organizations, particularly banks and other financial services. “The banking industry is constantly evolving, not only to cater to your needs but also to deliver these convenient services in a secure manner,” Tengkiat said, noting that RCBC is constantly working with other banking institutions, telecommunication companies, and government services to help provide this security. He reiterated RCBC’s digital banking app offers many security features such as two factor authentication, support of biometrics, mandatory change of password for online banking, card locking for lost and misplaced cards, and real-time SMS and email notification for banking transactions, among others. “This is part of our thrust as we aim to educate our customers on how to conduct electronic banking safely.”

He added, “Security, like banking, is a partnership. And we at RCBC are dedicated to be your partner in your journey.”

Coca-Cola PH, Save Philippine Seas help expand community-based waste solution programs through Reimagine Recycling Year 4

Tweet

Five community-based programs that offer circular economy solutions have each received up to Php 500,000 in grant funding from the Reimagine Recycling initiative of Save Philippine Seas and Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, with special participation from Tetra Pak Philippines.

Reimagine Recycling is a program that aims to help non-government groups with emerging circular economy solutions that address issues in solid waste management and help improve the welfare of the informal waste sector. The program will help expand these projects through capacity-building workshops on stakeholder management, communications and business models, mentoring, and financial grant funding.

Now in its fourth year, it sought program proposals to support and fund through Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, Coca-Cola Philippines’ social investment arm. Since the call for applications was opened in June 2022, 10 were shortlisted to present their waste solutions and receive training and tools that will equip them in growing their initiatives.

Out of the 10 shortlisted initiatives, Alon and Araw, Barrio Studios, #RefillNotLandfill, Sagip Kalikasan and KAKASIE Eco-Park were awarded grants and will continue their work this time with more project funding, not just on collection and recycling but also in educating communities on proper waste segregation and management.

“We at Coca-Cola believe in the power of partnerships to help address waste pollution and help establish a circular economy in the Philippines. This is why we continue to be supportive of collaborations like Reimagine Recycling that empower innovative and sustainable waste management solutions that create impact in the communities they serve,” said Tony del Rosario, President of Coca-Cola Philippines and Vice President for the East Franchise Operations of Coca-Cola ASEAN and South Pacific. “By partnering with Save Philippine Seas and Tetra Pak Philippines, we can help support entrepreneurs to scale up their existing programs that promote a circular economy, while also strengthening our efforts to achieve our goal of a World Without Waste.”

Coca-Cola Philippines, in partnership with Save Philippine Seas and Tetra Pak, named the winners of this year’s Reimagine Recycling program at the World Without Waste Year 4 Progress Report event on October 14, 2022, awarding them with total grant funding of up to Php 500,000 each. 

Joining the awardees on stage are (from leftmost inward) Michael Wu, Managing Director, Tetra Pak Market Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines & Indonesia; Atty. Cashmer Dirampaten, Director for Public Affairs, Communications, and Sustainability, Coca-Cola Franchise East Region, Coca-Cola ASEAN and South Pacific; (from rightmost inward) Cecile Alcantara, President, Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines Inc.; and Anna Oposa, Executive Director of Save Philippine Seas.

With additional funding from Coca-Cola Philippines and its partners, winners of Reimagine Recycling Year 4 can now focus on expanding and building a stronger foundation for its initiatives:

Alon and Araw provides opportunities for underprivileged children of coastal communities through sports, which enable them to foster love for the environment and aspire for a future with a better quality of life. Alon and Araw regularly conducts coastal cleanups as well as sports, education, and personal development workshops that reinforce important values and encourage responsibility within the family, society, and the environment;

Barrio Studios is a textile and manufacturing hub by TenTwenty Kids that helps businesses manage their pre-consumer textile waste through the collection, segregation, and transformation of reclaimed fabrics into higher-value goods;

#RefillNotLandfill is an advocacy of Suds Sustainable Pods, the country’s first pod brand that offers personal hygiene and household cleaning products packaged in water-soluble film that is biodegradable, non-toxic, and waste-free, offering a sustainable solution to sanitation. Suds was created to help reduce plastic waste and carbon footprint while providing a sustainable alternative that effectively cleans;

Sagip Kalikasan aims to prevent the leakage of plastics into the ocean through environmental education, waste segregation, and collection in the municipalities of Naic, Marogondon and General Trias, Cavite. And lastly;

Kasambuhan A’a Kauman Association for Sustainability, Innovation and Empowerment (KAKASIE) seeks to help address issues on improper waste disposal in Sapa-sapa, Tawi-Tawi by conducting regular training on recycling and upcycling. The community-based organization also aims to build an environmentally-friendly park.

“It is truly inspiring to work closely with entrepreneurs and advocates on programs that help tackle waste pollution—from plastic waste collection, managing textile waste, to educational training. We are excited to support this year’s Reimagineers and see their initiatives grow through the resources and mentorship provided by the program,” said Anna Oposa, Executive Director of Save Philippine Seas.

Smart Recycle PH was also awarded the Tetra Pak Special Award with grant funding for helping bridge ordinary citizens, business organizations, and verified collection partners, especially for the benefit of local junk shop owners.

"We congratulate Smart Recycle PH for the milestone they have achieved. We’re grateful for the opportunity to support high-potential community-based programs that not only advance grassroots innovation and circularity, but also share our commitment to protecting what’s good through multilateral collaborations,” said Michael Wu, Managing Director, Tetra Pak Market Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines & Indonesia. “Together with our partners, we hope to continue empowering the next generation to make a positive impact in building a future without waste.”

“Consistent with our mission to help uplift the lives of the communities that we serve, Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines will continue to support innovations that will empower communities and inspire Filipinos to initiate their own waste solution programs, as this year’s Reimagineers have,” said Cecile Alcantara, President of Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, Inc. “This year’s winners have proven that there are individuals and organizations who are eager to step up and create an impact in their own ways, and we in the Coca-Cola Foundation always welcome such efforts,” she adds.

In 2018, The Coca-Cola Company, through its World Without Waste vision, announced its global ambition to support a circular economy to help eliminate waste through the continual use of packaging as a valuable resource. In addition to the Reimagine Recycling program, Coca-Cola Philippines is accelerating more waste management solutions aligned with its World Without Waste goals. The company has this year opened PETValue, the first bottle-to-bottle recycling facility in the country. PETValue is a joint venture between Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. and Indorama Ventures, a global leader in packaging solutions. Coca-Cola also continues to find and deploy sustainable, effective solutions to help address the waste issue with the support of partners and communities.

For more information about Reimagine Recycling, please visit https://www.savephilippineseas.org/.

You may also read more about Coca-Cola Philippines’ World Without Waste initiatives at https://www.coca-cola.com.ph/news/our-world-without-waste-progress.