Pokémon has a history of ambitious, but also wild or weird ads since the license’s creation, and a TCG promotion from Oct. 21 on TikTok might have just topped all the strangeness that came before.
As reported by VGC, The official Pokémon account shared an unusual reveal of Larry’s upcoming card by referencing the famous business card scene from the dark satire movie American Psycho, on Oct. 21, stirring many reactions.
The short video displays three Pokémon, Quagsire, Mashtromp, and Slowpoke, in a meeting where they show off their Larry card.
They reveal three versions of the card. The last one is Larry Ultra Rare, the best of all three cards, with a unique drawing and shiny coating.
The video features real sounds from American Psycho‘s infamous and often memed business card scene. The Marshtomp plush even has Patrick Bateman’s glasses and is voicing Christian Bale’s lines.
This both unexpected and smart crossover made a splash on social media. The video was shared over 100,000 times on TikTok, has racked up over 500,000 views, and has received a heated response from the community.
Fans praised the move, but also expressed confusion at the unusual crossover between something as dark as American Psycho with the cute world of Pokémon. “I don’t know who decided this, but I’m here for it,” wrote one of the video’s top-voted comments.
In 2000, Pokémon teamed up with Heinz to release questionable Pokémon-shaped pasta with an iconic ad and collaboration.
More recently, in 2021, a TCG collaboration was done with Katy Perry, Post Malone, and J Balvin. It featured unique card designs including one Pokémon and the artist, but those didn’t end up being commercialized.
American Psycho doesn’t fit Pokémon‘s universe well—but would in a darker version of it. Still, although the license mainly appeals to a younger audience, it gathers fans from all ages nearly 30 years after its creation, which explains the ad’s tremendous success.
The strength of the Pokémon license is its capacity to gather all kinds of people, and unexpected ads like these are a smart way to use this to its full potential.
Published: Oct 23, 2023 06:45 am