The Pokémon Panic of 1997
Benjamin Radford
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 25.3, May / June 2001
The Pokémon Panic of 1997
In 1997, an episode of the cartoon Pokémon allegedly induced seizures and other ailments in thousands of Japanese children. Though popularly attributed to photosensitive epilepsy, the episode has many of the hallmarks of mass hysteria.
Pokémon is everywhere; more than a game, more than a movie, even more than a merchandising juggernaut, it is a phenomenon. It has spawned countless video games, comic books, Web sites, video tapes, magazines, clubs, music CDs, books, trading cards, three films, and, of course, an animated television series. It became such a cultural phenomenon that Time magazine featured Pokémon on the cover of its November 22, 1999, issue.
For kids it’s an engaging pastime; for Nintendo, it’s a multibillion-dollar moneymaker, possibly the largest marketing effort in the history of toys. (The theme song’s refrain contains a catchy ode to merchandising, “…More