You might have spotted Pikachu on shelves in the grocery store recently, specifically in the soup section. And no, the soup is not made out of Pikachu, even if the taste might be electric — it’s a partnership between Campbell’s and Pokémon aimed at kids. In addition to Pikachu, you’ll also spot characters like Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Eevee, Jigglypuff, Mew, and Mewtwo. Campbell’s has added another layer to the marketing campaign by making certain Pokémon cans harder to find than others.
The kicker? The pasta in the soup is shaped like the characters. It’s a fun way to get kids more interested in soup, but it isn’t the first time a video game mascot has appeared as part of some of your favorite snacks. Gaming and food have a long history of partnerships and collaborations, including unexpected crossovers that resulted in the birth of inside jokes and weird bits of gaming history.
Doom, breakfast cereal, and Chex Quest
In 1997, certain brands of breakfast cereal came with a floppy disk inside the box. On that disk was a conversion of Doom, specifically The Ultimate Doom, that was aimed at children up to nine years old. Don’t worry, the violence was toned way down, and rather than shooting enemies, you used cereal-themed power-ups to win. It’s an odd bit of trivia, and I can vaguely remember finding one of the disks in a box of cereal when I was just a kid.
You took the role of the Chex Warrior, a man wearing a chex-shaped suit of armor. A bit goofy, yes, but effective; after its release, Chex Quest pushed sales of its namesake cereal by more than 295%. If you’re interested in playing it, you don’t have to seek out fossilized cereal boxes. The game was re-released a few years ago and is available to play for free.
Burger King and Sneak King
In the mid-2000s, Burger King released a series of three games: Sneak King, Big Bumpin’, and PocketBike Racer. The games aren’t great, but they are kind of hilarious to play. Sneak King is a stealth-based title that tasks the player with delivering food to hungry people, but doing so without being caught. There’s a surprising amount of depth given what the games are. Sneak King ended up among the top 10 best-selling games of 2006 and has since become something of a meme among collectors.
Burger King’s gold-plated Pokémon cards
In 1999, amid the height of the Pokémon zeitgeist in the United States, everyone wanted to get a piece of the action. Burger King thought of one of the more creative ways of doing so: releasing 23-karat gold-plated Pokémon cards. The cards came in a plastic Pokéball case and were only $2 when purchased with a value meal, and they sold like hotcakes. As you might guess, the gold plating was almost too thin to be considered gold, but if you’re old enough to remember those days — and happen to have any of the toys left over — you might want to check what they’re worth. Collectors are paying up to $200, depending on the condition and the card.
Avoid the Noid
Perhaps the most classic food tie-in on this list, Domino’s “Avoid the Noid” campaign is one of the first advertising campaigns focused on video games. Avoid the Noid was not only a slogan, but a video game released in 1989. The Noid was a nuisance that sought to destroy and ruin pizzas, and you played as a delivery boy who had to dodge the Noid’s attempts to yank the pie right out of your hands. It doesn’t stop there, either. In 1990, a game called Yo! Noid caught public attention, but it’s just a reskin of Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru, a ninja-themed platformer from Capcom. The games are available to play online through emulators, but be warned: Yo! Noid is a tough one. You might consider it the first (and only) pizza-themed Soulslike.
Ever wanted to date Colonel Sanders?
In a move that could really only have originated in Japan, developer Psyop launched a free title on Steam called I Love You, Colonel Sanders. It’s a dating sim set in a culinary school where the player is tasked with winning the heart of KFC’s main man, although he’s been hunked-up a bit from his traditional, friendly-uncle appearance. The game is surprisingly well-rated, featuring Colonel Sanders and numerous other anime-style characters. The art looks good, and it’s weird enough to be finger-lickin’ good.
Interested? Don’t worry, we don’t judge. I Love You, Colonel Sanders! is still available to play for free on Steam, so give it a whirl this weekend.
Gaming has gone mainstream, and it’s not unusual to see popular titles like Call of Duty partner with energy drink companies. But back in the early days, when it was something of a niche hobby with less broad appeal? The marketing campaigns were charming, silly, and fun, and it’s something I wish we could see more of (and the Campbell’s Soup campaign, with its Pikachu-shaped pasta, is exactly the kind of thing that would make me snag a can off the shelf).
