Some Pokémon Commercials

Recently, I've been exposed to a few commercials featuring Pokémon. Pokémon has a strong media presence, so it naturally should be present in a few commercials of its own. They could be to promote the games or maybe even something else that it can conceivably cooperate with. The resulting commercials may turn out to be quite appealing for both Pokémon fans and people in general. That seems to be the case with the recent ones I've seen - three of them, in fact.

The first is a local commercial to promote the localized TCG, what is obviously currently a big thing where I am (Indonesia). It was notably shown during another kind of localization, that of the anime. Accordingly, the commercial has a few local elements, including a local YouTube personality as well as a characterization of a traveling local herbal remedy vendor. The main plot line of the ad involves the YouTube personality duking it out in TCG battles against other people, including said vendor, who in the commercial was revealed to have a deck. It's fairly entertaining and seems to accomplish its purpose, given that it's still going strong even today.

Meanwhile, in a different TV program I watched about Japanese things, the break segments contain commercials of Japanese enterprises, and one of them actually used Pokémon to promote its innovations. Moreover, the commercial for the enterprise actually has three individual versions, with different Pokémon in each. One has Pikachu, another has Charizard and Snorlax, and yet another has Magnemite; they are all depicted as being present in realistic situations. With the advent of Pokémon Go, it is not at all surprising, but the promotion choice seems to be, because it's not one that you think would go with Pokémon. And yet, it does work and is rather unique, if I do say so myself.

Speaking of Pokémon Go, there is a "commercial" that probably couldn't be said to be a commercial, but more as a promotional video, as I saw it not on TV but on social media. Nevertheless, the way that it's formatted and its length (close to 30 seconds) suggest that it could be a plausible TV commercial. It's actually a promotion for next month's Community Day event, which I'll cover when the time comes. Like the enterprise ads, the featured Pokémon is presented in a realistic setting, even at one point taking control of the "phone" to take a "selfie". The message is rather clear, being that one can expect its realization when one takes part in the event when it comes back next month.

What impresses me the most about these particular commercials is that they all contain some sense of realism. They, in a way, affirm the notion that Pokémon has gone from beyond games to a way of life, even if two of these commercials are still for specific games, being Go and TCG. The media presence is quite evident as well, allowing people to relate with what are being promoted through Pokémon. That should be a good thing for maintaining its appeal, even through something as common as commercials.

One year ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 10/21/2018
Two years ago: Pokémon Brand Parodies