Two Cheers for that Other 'N' Company - Nintendo Company Ltd., marketing of Pokemon products - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, Oct 11, 1999 by Philip Van Munching

Let's be very clear on the separation between parental concern and parental lunacy: the plaintiffs here should be counter-sued--by their own children--for intellectual abandonment and failure to provide any actual parenting.

However wrongheaded, though, the lawsuit goes a long way in explaining the allure of Pokemon. At a time in history when parents aren't ashamed to sue others over their own disinterest in their children, Nintendo has quite brilliantly stepped in with a marketing plan built entirely around the insecurities of unsupervised kids: "Gotta catch 'em all." That's not just a tagline, it's a command, and maybe even a warning of sorts; not catching them all is an indication of not belonging, of being a loser. It's marketing via social imperative.

As for the "premium" cards, well, that's nothing more than proof that my theory is right, and Willy Wonka is the father of modern marketing. Here's a guy who hid five pieces of gold-colored tin foil in candy wrappers, granting the finders little more than an afternoon tour of his factory. The result? Wonka caused a worldwide run on his products, and managed to sell out his entire line.

Of course, if he tried that today, Veruca Salt's dad wouldn't have bothered buying all those candy bars. He'd have hired a lawyer, instead.