Pokémon Go is an economic factor. The code contains hints of a planned partnership with the fast-food chain McDonald’s.
Pokémon Go opens new doors with the “Augmented Reality” phenomenon and also offers the economy opportunities that were unthought of just a week ago.
As reported by Forbes, some stores are leveraging the fact that their shop counts as a “Pokéstop” to attract customers and increase sales: for instance, a clothing store has cleverly tapped into the zeitgeist.
The owner likely wants to use it as a competitive advantage, as it is particularly worthwhile for Pokémon fans to shop there. We have already reported on the “Pokémon and the Stores” phenomenon in this article.
Stores and public facilities want to fill their places with Pokémon fans
According to Forbes, other locations blessed by the Poké gods, such as libraries, plan to make their establishments more attractive to Pokémon fans for major events with a specific in-game item, the “Lure Module.” They want to promote this on Facebook to get people into their venues.
Other stores that aren’t so lucky write to the developers, noting that they would be happy if they could get their business set up with Pokémons too. However, this proves to be difficult – the corresponding stops and gyms are predetermined. The developer is already overwhelmed by the hype and can hardly respond to all the inquiries. The startup had anticipated that Pokémon Go would become popular… but not a global phenomenon.
What is described here on a small scale is currently happening in some retail sectors, where clever players want to benefit from the hype, but these are probably just small fries compared to what corporations are planning.
In the game code, hints have now been discovered that such a relationship between business and Pokémon Go has already been planned at a higher level. This also aligns with statements from the developers to the New York Times that they intend to introduce “sponsored locations.”
And yes … media outlets like the New York Times are seldom associated with video games – this shows what a phenomenon Pokémon Go currently is.
Legendary Pokémons then in the restaurant with the big M?
The fast-food giant McDonald’s may have already arranged a deal before the release. After all, the name “McDonald’s” appears in connection with “sponsored” in the game code, as astute players discovered and revealed on reddit. The famous “M” also appears in the game code.
It could be that through this deal, McDonald’s restaurants are transformed into “Pokegyms,” says the data miner.
With a bit of imagination, it would also be quite conceivable to sweeten such a deal with “legendary Pokémons” or special finds. Apparently, some hints have already been discovered in the code that the game could develop in such a direction. However, it is not officially confirmed at this time.
The title image is from GamesRadar, which also reported on the possible sponsor deal.
