South Carolina uses Pokemon to help spread hurricane awareness

The South Carolina Emergency Management Division is attempting to reach a broader audience by using the Pokemon theme song to spread hurricane awareness.

South Carolina has historically been in the top 10 states where hurricanes hit most often. A study shows that from 1851 to 2018, SC experienced 30 hurricanes.

As such, it is important for South Carolina residents to prepare for inclement during “hurricane season”. And the South Carolina Emergency Management Division is responsible for providing a plan of action to keep residents safe.

However, the SCEMD has recently turned to using memes in an attempt to reach social media users. Their Twitter has posted parody lyrics to songs such as ‘Photograph’ by Nickelback and ‘Love Train’ by The O’ Jays. And now, they’ve turned to using everyone’s favorite collectible monster franchise: Pokemon.

South Carolina Emergency Management remix Pokemon theme

On August 5, SCEMD would create a parody to rival all of its previous remixes by taking a swing at the original Pokemon theme song. ‘Preparémon’ doesn’t differ much from the original, but it’s corny enough to drive home the point.

The parody also changed Pokemon’s iconic slogan from ‘Gotta catch ’em all’ to ‘Gotta prep ’em all’ in reference to the song’s goal to encourage hurricane prep. It also included lyrics such as “To prepare them is my real test. To plan for them is my cause” and “Preparing far and wide. Teach the kids to understand. The power that’s inside…”

Sadly, at the time of writing, the informational yet comedic take on the Pokemon theme hasn’t garnered much attention. With 13 likes and five retweets, not many South Carolina residents have been inspired the way the SCEMD had hoped.

Regardless, it is a nice attempt to spread important safety tips to a wider audience. If this is what it takes to get people prepared during unsafe weather, hopefully, the SCEMD will continue to produce these charming remixes.