The tagline of Pokémon is Gotta Catch ‘Em All – where players have to race around scooping up an assortment of “pocket monsters”. Katy Perry had a hit single in 2011 with ‘The One That Got Away’. Some sort of brand partnership between the two was inevitable. 

And so it came to pass. Pokémon turns 25 this year, starting out on the Game Boy in February 1996 and evolving through an anime series, a film franchise and an AR scavenger app. It has also released a series of soundtrack albums since 1999, so working with a pop star is no wild left-turn for the brand. 

Katy Perry has got involved as part of a wider partnership between Pokémon and the Universal Music Group for Brands arm to turn 2021 into “the biggest Pokémon party in history”, although the scale of previous Pokémon parties was not made explicit for accurate comparison reasons. Perry has been recruited as what they are terming a “premier collaborator” and what Colin Palmer, the VP of marketing at The Pokémon Company International, calls a “kindred spirit to Pokémon, whose world is bright, fun and uplifting”. 

Perry, naturally, has always loved the brand. “Pokémon has been a constant in my life from playing the original video games on my Game Boy, to trading Pokémon TCG cards at lunch, to the adventures of catching Pokémon on the street with Pokémon GO,” she says. “I’ve even visited the Pokémon Café in Japan while on tour!”

She is no stranger to branding deals, having worked with OPI nail polish in 2011, being the face of CoverGirl Cosmetics in 2013, launching the Katy Perry Footwear line in 2016 with Global Brands Group, appearing in a H&M Christmas campaign in 2015 and more. She loves brands so much that she married one (Russell), although that one ended in divorce. 

Perry will be involved with Pokémon throughout 2021 as the lead musician, but the brand is also saying other celebrities will be wheeled out as the year progresses.