Bri Nutt
Word count: 1014
Greenwashing: Pokémon
In November 2019 Pokémon released 2 games titled Pokémon sword and Pokémon shield, during this time a certain screenshot from the game was taken and whether it was intentional or not the screenshot sparked conversation among the internet. This advertisement for the game was not done by the company itself but helped the game gain more attention in the media.
The screenshot was of a new pokémon release in the game, the pokémon in question was a regional form of an existing coral inspired pokémon. The original pokémon was a pink and blue smiley happy coral pokémon, the regional form released with the game struck a much different appearance. The Pokémon, unlike the original design, the new one is completely white. This is clearly in reference to the coral bleaching of 2016, which was documented from 2016-2020. The choice of white matches the real color the bleached coral would turn to. The new design also features a frown rather than a happy smile. The design made many people make the connection of this pokémon representing the negative effects of climate change as well as the harm to the environment. This image convinced many that The Pokémon Company cared for the environment and wanted to draw attention to climate change, but was that really the case?
Despite their being an obvious advantage to advertising the coral pokémon, Pokémon never advertised on YouTube or on Instagram. They did, however, advertise a different pokémon related to climate change. It is possible it was one of the pokémon added later in the game or a pokémon they left to be surprised, either way it is certain that the pokémon’s connection to climate change wasn’t the reason it wasn’t pushed by The Pokémon Company themselves. It’s more likely they added it to the game to draw more attention to climate change thus giving themselves a better reputation. The game’s release and the time the image circulated on the internet correspond with the years Greta Thunberg was getting a lot of attention for her stance of climate change and the rise of concern of climate change. This could have been the main reason they chose to model the new regional form of the coral pokémon after an environmental problem. The pokémon was very effective in convincing everyone that The Pokémon Company cared about the climate, they didn’t even have to push the pokémon for it to convince the people The Pokémon Company was green.
Currently The Pokémon Company’s stance on environmental issues does not seem genuine, and it is likely they never were. On their official pokémon website, they state all the plastics, cardboard and wrapping of their pokémon card are recyclable as well as the fact they ensure their products are high quality with minimum impact on the environment. The Official shopping site only mentions that they make high quality products a cause minimum impact However, both sites do not mention how they cause minimal harm to the environment.
The Pokémon Company’s claims don’t add up the most notable issue is their as well as all switch game packaging. The package is quite huge for extremely small sized cartridges to be inside. The biggest argument used to justify this choice is they need space for artwork on the packaging. The idea they need a big case is just an excuse, if that were really the case there is no reason they wouldn’t just use a similar size case as the DS. The DS cases were nearly half the size of the current switch cases, and the cartridges were bigger than the switch ones. This doesn’t seem like it would have a minimal impact on the environment. Using that much plastic for such a small cartridge’s case especially when in the past they had smaller cases and were still able to have nice, detailed artwork on the small cases of the past.
Another major Issue The Pokémon Company has lies with their old games. The old games for the Gameboy, Gameboy advance, DS and 3DS will eventually be lost. The fans do better at ‘recycling’ them than the company. Fans have been reselling and purchasing the secondhand games for over 100 dollars, a crazy price but it’s the only thing keeping these games and even the consoles still in use, fans have even recreated the games to keep them working. The older games are not accessible to most people anymore, due to the shutdown of the internet on the older consoles doing this Nintendo has discouraged fans from using said products and letting them go to waste, though it is true they claim to recycle those old consoles and games they do not advertise it and nor does the Pokémon Company. Even if they did advertise it, it still wouldn’t be very convincing, the financial gain of even selling a broken cartilage in infinity more than the non-existent financial gain of recycling the games and the consoles.
In conclusion The Pokémon Company acted on climate change once, when the moment was ‘popular’ but in the current day they do the bare minimum to aid the environment and only claim they do minimum damage. There is an option to recycle and reuse their products, however this is not well known or advertised. The Pokémon Company as well as their partner company Nintendo does not do much to encourage the recycling of past products, fans are more likely to sell their used games online for outrageous price over recycling it for no financial gain. Pokémon is one of the biggest game companies in the world, they can afford to do more than make their products recyclable, they can afford to make a difference, they just would rather support with their words and not their actions. Their act of recycling isn’t enough, especially since 1 of the main things they sell is mass produced trading cards. There are numerous ways for The Pokémon Company to improve their impact on the environment, a start would be being constant on the issue instead of drawing attention to one problem then calling it a day.
References
Ares, Elena, and Paul Bolton. “The Rise of Climate Change Activism?” Commonslibrary.parliament.uk, June 24, 2020. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-rise-of-climate-change-activism/.
AussieGamr. “Why Nintendo Switch Game Boxes Are Large – Squish Turtle – Medium.” Squish Turtle, February 21, 2017. https://medium.com/squishturtle/why-nintendo-switch-game-boxes-are-large-108181285d9a.
Bulbapedia. “Pokémon Sword and Shield – Bulbapedia, the Community-Driven Pokémon Encyclopedia.” Bulbapedia, September 19, 2024. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Sword_and_Shield.
Nakamura, Masako, Tomokazu Murakami, Hiroyoshi Kohno, Akira Mizutani, and Shinya Shimokawa. “Rapid Recovery of Coral Communities from a Mass Bleaching Event in the Summer of 2016, Observed in Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Japan.” Marine Biology 169, no. 8 (August 1, 2022): 1–9. doi:10.1007/s00227-022-04091-2.
National Ocean Services. “What Is Coral Bleaching?” oceanservice.noaa.gov. Accessed September 30, 2024. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html.
Nintendo. “Nintendo Support: Nintendo Product Recycling.” Accessed September 30, 2024. https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10276/.
Nintendo of Europe AG. “Nintendo History.” Accessed September 30, 2024. https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-History-625945.html?srsltid=AfmBOornUBSbG-qv8Osac1zmU5ZpN1uluGvNuxNhhlSCmkAqPms7GPwn.
Pokémon. “Instagram.” Instagram. Accessed September 30, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/pokemon/.
RivalRyyyy. “WHY Old Pokemon Games Are so Expensive.” YouTube. Accessed September 30, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DCvgql_I9Y.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Greta Thunberg.” Encyclopedia Britannica, January 9, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Greta-Thunberg.
The Official Pokémon YouTube channel. “Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield.” YouTube. Accessed September 30, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQWzKIaERiryoTDuBunjQqCH_YLpaCIWy.
The Pokemon Company. “Environment & Sustainability.” Pokémon Support. Accessed September 30, 2024. https://support.pokemon.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001421446-Environment-Sustainability.
The Pokemon Company. “Inclusion & Social Impact.” corporate.pokemon.com. Accessed September 30, 2024. https://corporate.pokemon.com/en-us/social-impact/.
Visser, Nick. “Climate Change Is so Real There’s A New Pokémon Based on Dead Coral.” HuffPost, November 19, 2019. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/corsola-dead-coral-pokemon-sword-and-shield_n_5dd34b8ce4b082dae812ee71.
Emily
Your paper makes a good point to question if Pokémon is being genuine towards their environmental claims. Pointing out inconsistencies of the Brands actions such as the larger packaging for smaller game cards. Directly contradicts their claims of minimal environmental impact. Also mentioning the loss of older games and counsels holds a point of the potential environmental impact Aswell. I appreciate the use of The Pokémon companies’ history and direct quote about being greener on their website, this matched with the contradictions Aswell paints a nice picture of how Pokémon has been reacting to the rise in popularity going green is receiving. Your sources are very thought out and formatted in the Chicago style well, they add and flow with your analysis. The flow of your paper is good and engaging. I think going deeper into the companies past reactions to climate change would be an interesting point and help drive the point of them not being fully truthful. I am curious is their past examples Pokémon has done something like the climate change Pokémon’s in the past? Is this a pattern they follow or was it a one-off attempt to be seen more green? Overall, an engaging topic with a strong start and conclusion.