It was released through YG Entertainment and Interscope Records on August 19, 2022, as the pre-release single from the group's second studio album, Born Pink (2022).

The song was commercially successful worldwide and spent two weeks atop the Billboard Global 200, marking the first time a girl group reached number one on the chart.

On July 6, 2022, YG Entertainment announced that Blackpink was in the process of finishing recording for their new album and preparing to shoot a music video in mid-July for release in August.

[4] On August 10, two sets of individual member teaser posters for "Pink Venom" were posted to Blackpink's official social media accounts.

It leads into an accelerating, electropop beat in the second verse; and following the chorus, the production of "Pink Venom" switches with Lisa and Jennie delivering a "late-90s Eminem-style" rap.

[21] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times noted the track's combination of several musical styles: "Every four bars, a new approach enters — familiar K-pop elasticity, loose Middle Eastern themes, gaudy rock, West Coast rap, and more.

"[25] Its lyrical content conveys Blackpink's presentation of contradicting images such as "sweet" and "deadly", with Jennie commenting, "we thought they were kind of reminiscent of us… It's pink venom, a lovely poison, it's words that most express us.

"[26] Vulture's Charlie Harding noted that "The song is a maximalist homage to classic hip-hop and pop that intensifies the recent trend of heavy sampling and interpolation".

Harding added, "the band flips the script in the second verse with aplaintive G-funk- style moog floating over a '90s hip-hop beat reminiscent of Missy Elliott's 'Work It', but all of these Western references are balanced with Korean sounds.

Tanu I. Raj of NME wrote in a four star review that "Pink Venom" represents a "promising preview of their new era", but commented that the song's name-dropping of luxury brands got "old quickly" and compromised "what is an otherwise exciting arrangement.

[33] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called it the group's "splashiest hit yet",[34] while the same publication ranked it at number 35 in their list of the top 100 songs of 2022, deeming it an "unbelievably fun raising-hell anthem full of Eighties hair-metal glam.

[37] Conversely, Lauren Puckett-Pope from Elle remarked that "The song is catchy but discombobulated", and criticized the track's "disorienting blend of rap, floating vocals, and an anti-drop chorus".

[38] Raul Stanciu from Sputnikmusic wrote that "Pink Venom" "offers a cute contrast with the sweet tone on the choruses, but those cannot detract enough from the dumb lyrics.

[31] Likewise, Benedetta Geddo from The Mary Sue opined that the song "isn't exactly stellar", expressing disdain of "the same tried and tested Teddy Park Formula which has grown so, so, so tiresome".

[44] Upon release, "Pink Venom" broke the record for Spotify's most-streamed song by a female artist in a single day in 2022.

In other Asian territories, "Pink Venom" topped the charts in Hong Kong,[81] Taiwan,[82] Indonesia,[83] Malaysia,[84] Singapore,[85] the Philippines,[86] Vietnam,[87] and India.

[96] The song has since been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for surpassing 35,000 units sold in the country.

[103] Upon release, it reached 90.4 million views in 24 hours, surpassing the previous record held by their own track "How You Like That" (2020) for the most-viewed video by a female artist in a single day.

Afterwards, Lisa walks into a room inside a pyramid, where she picks a black apple from a tree and eats it; her eyes turn pink upon taking the first bite.

[125] On January 28, 2023, the group performed the song with French cellist Gautier Capuçon at the Le Gala des Pièces Jaunes charity event organized by the First Lady of France, Brigitte Macron, in Paris.

[126] In April and June 2023, Blackpink performed "Pink Venom" as the opening song of their sets as the headlining act of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California and BST Hyde Park in London, England.