Snapchat is teaming up with The Pokémon Company to introduce a new Pikachu filter to the app. The official Pikachu filter applies the electric mouse’s trademark rosy cheeks, pointy ears, black nose and big eyes to faces in the app, and when users open their mouth the iconic Pikachu cry rings out as an animated version of the characters leaps into frame.
The Pikachu filter is a pretty perfect tie-in for Snapchat, which aims at a demographic that is already pretty gaga for the most recognizable of Nintendo’s pocket monsters. Plus, Snapchat could use some brand juice, and Pokémon and Pikachu have proven to offer that for a lot of other platforms, including any of Nintendo’s hardware consoles and even AR via Pokémon Go.
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Snapchat’s Pikachu filter is a limited run option, so if you want to capture yourself looking like Ash’s best pal you’d better get on it. The best strategy is probably to stockpile a wide range of selfies of yourself as Pika so you have one for every possible emotional response you can possibly make.
Will Snapchat Pika reach the lofty heights of Dancing Hot Dog? Only time will tell.