Super Bowl 50 ads will include Pokemon celebrating 20 years — VIDEO
January 25, 2016 - 12:43 pm
LOS ANGELES — Pokemon aims to be the very best in its TV commercial that will air during Super Bowl 50.
The 60-second ad celebrates 20 years of Pokemon and involves people from around the world repeating the phrase "I can do that" and preparing for a Pokemon tournament, with the tagline "Train On." A 30-second version of the ad will run during the third quarter of the Super Bowl.
"For 20 years, the Pokemon world has inspired fans to train hard and have fun," J.C. Smith, senior director of Consumer Marketing at The Pokemon Company International, said. "This ad is reflective of that passion, and I can't think of a bigger stage to share this story than the Super Bowl."
Pokemon was introduced in Japan in 1996 with Game Boy games "Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Green" — in the U.S. it was "Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Blue" — before ballooning out into a successful trading card game and animated series. The ad is part of a yearlong campaign celebrating the series' history.
Pokemon won't be breaking the mold in terms of video game ads appearing during the Super Bowl. Last year alone there was quite a few, including "Clash of Clans," "Game of War: Fire Age," and "Heroes Charge," all of which were mobile games.
The Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers will play at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7.