Pokemon fans outraged over “lazy” 25th anniversary Macy’s Parade reveal

The Pokemon Company unexpectedly announced the start of the series’ 25th anniversary event during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. However, some fans were left feeling disappointed by how “lackluster” the reveal was.

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The Pokemon series officially made its debut with the release of the groundbreaking Nintendo games Red & Blue in 1996. Decades later, its popularity has only continued to explode and it is now the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, with its RPGs, Trading Card Game, anime and merchandise raking in billions.

In 2021, the beloved IP will officially celebrate its 25th anniversary. The Japanese company surprisingly announced the major milestone four months early during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. However, not even an adorable group of dancing Pikachu could make up for what some fans felt was a pretty mediocre reveal.

Pokemon goes viral for lackluster 25th anniversary reveal

On November 23, the Pokemon Company sent out press emails urging fans to tune to the annual parade for a major announcement. However, the cryptic tease ended up only being a reveal for the 25th anniversary’s logo…. And nothing else.

The special update came off the heels of an adorable performance of Pikachu dancers. All the hype built up to the yellow mascot stepping aside to show off the upcoming anniversary’s branding, before abruptly cutting away.

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While the Pika-dance troupe was a major hit and even began trending on Twitter, upset fans took to the social media platform to air out their frustrations for what they found to be a disappointing announcement.

Many players called the new logo “lazy” as it was the same exact image used for the 20th anniversary, just with a slight alteration. One user wrote, “Lol. They literally changed the 0 to a 5.” Another replied, “Its more lazy than it is ugly. All they did was recycle the 20th anniversary logo.”

Other fans called the reveal disappointing, and hit out at The Pokemon Company for over-hyping the event. “So all the announcement was is to kick off the 25th anniversary in which we already knew?” one person said. Another exclaimed “What announcement was that @Pokemon? Just a small 25?”

While it was always extremely unlikely that a new game would be announced at the event, a reused logo was pretty underwhelming for some. Despite the reveal being four months early, the Japanese company stated a “special celebration” would begin in 2021.

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Whether you hated or loved the announcement, there is no denying that franchise is having its biggest year yet in 2020. The sky’s the limit with the 25th anniversary around the corner.