Surprised Pikachu’s Creator Tells Us The Story Behind The Meme And Debunks The Theory That It Was A Stealth Marketing Scheme

nyone who enjoys memes to any degree is likely well aware of the famous Surprised Pikachu reaction image. The meme was among the most widely successful viral images of 2018, secured a spot in our top 50 Memes of the Decade list and continues to remain relevant to this day. In October, Wired published a piece on it claiming that Surprised Pikachu was a “stealth marketing campaign,” sparking rumors of it allegedly being used for the promotion of Detective Pikachu. But what’s the story behind this seemingly random image from the original Pokemon anime? To find out exactly where it came from, we sat down with its creator, Angela, to hear more about the backstory and its impact, as well as the truth behind the theory that it was a marketing campaign.

Q: Hey, Angela. Thanks for joining us to talk about Surprised Pikachu. Can we start off with you telling us more about yourself, your involvement in the meme, and what you’ve been up to lately?

A: Thanks for having me! As you know, my name is Angela, and I started the Surprised Pikachu meme. I’ve always enjoyed using social media for its comedy-related aspects, and memes are no exception. The content I put out is always aimed at making people laugh, and I think Surprised Pikachu is the best example of that. I’ve also been a fan of Nintendo games since my childhood and Pokemon is no exception, so I’m glad that my biggest impact on the internet has been a link between two of my interests.

Q: So, we read that you actually screencapped the image of Pikachu sometime in 2017 where it sat for a year before you shared the first meme. Can you give us the backstory of why you captured this particular Pokemon scene? How’d you come up with the meme and what did you make of it at the time?

A: Back in 2017, I was rewatching the original Pokemon anime, and I noticed that in a lot of the scenes, Pikachu looked a bit … off. So, I made an effort to start screenshotting any scene where Pikachu was off-model or just looked funny so I could make a compilation post on Tumblr. Surprised Pikachu was one of them, and coincidentally the only screenshot I ended up keeping. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but even back then it was my favorite screenshot of the bunch. Unfortunately, I think I deleted the original post, so I no longer have any of the other Pikachu screenshots.

Fast forward to September 26th, 2018, I had a post saved in my Tumblr drafts that needed a reaction image to go along with it — the post was making a joke about purposely bending something that you knew would break if you bent it, yet still being surprised that it broke. I went through my files and figured my screenshot of Pikachu would fit well, so I added it to the draft and posted it. It pretty much immediately gained traction, which wasn’t a surprise (no pun intended) to me. I’ve had plenty of popular posts on Tumblr previously (even to this day, I have other posts with more notes than Surprised Pikachu — by margins of a few hundred thousand). It wasn’t until I went on Twitter and saw people using Surprised Pikachu in other contexts that I realized this was different. It became especially apparent once the official Pokemon Twitter made a reference to it.

Q: After that initial post, it spread to Reddit and Facebook within a week and was used in numerous memes by the end of October. When did you first see another meme using your Pikachu capture, and when did you notice the meme itself was really taking off? What was your reaction to seeing it become an online phenomenon?

A: I remember first seeing people use Surprised Pikachu in the replies to Twitter threads, then later on Instagram with new jokes associated with the meme. I think what came as the biggest shock to me was how quickly it gained momentum and moved to different platforms. I just assumed it would stay mostly on Tumblr. It kind of gave me a laugh each time I saw it being used, like a “Hey! I started that meme!” kind of reaction.

Then I remember seeing a redrawn version of it because people wanted a clearer image, which personally I don’t like because I think it takes away from the charm of the original. Even nowadays, I’ll see people use the meme as a term, similar to when people would type out “facepalm” (like, “I was sitting there like ‘Surprised Pikachu face,’” etc.), which amazes me. I never expected this meme to permeate nearly every online space in the way that it did.

Q: Obviously since you made this meme, you must’ve been fairly knowledgeable about memes and internet culture, but would you say you were more of a casual memer or an avid creator back then?

A: I’d say I’m pretty savvy with internet culture and memes. I’ve been using social media for almost a decade now and even back then, my focus was on making jokes or memes. Surprised Pikachu is definitely the most popular meme I’ve started, but I’ve also posted a few screenshots of old conversations I had via text that have become fairly popular. There’s a trend where people take the screenshot and associate the grey text with one character, and the blue text with another. Here are the links to some of them: a recent one and an example of someone using it as a meme. Another, that I can’t find an example of at the moment, unfortunately, but I’ve seen them before, and another with a similar case to the one above.

Other than that, my meme creation is pretty sparse and random. Here’s another example of one of mine, and one more for good measure.

Q: After Surprised Pikachu became an established and widespread meme, did you tell anyone about your involvement in creating it, such as your friends or family? How did they react to it?

A: A few friends who are familiar with my social media accounts knew immediately that I had started the meme and were definitely excited about it. I got a few messages early on like, “Hey, I saw your meme being used again!! Angela this is a big deal!!!” I have told other friends and family that I started the meme, some of them being surprised and others being excited. I’ve also been introduced to friends of friends who’ve said things like, “They told me you started the Surprised Pikachu meme, that’s so cool!” Other people who I’ve told said they felt star-struck after finding out — at least a couple of people said it felt like they were talking to a celebrity. It’s not one of the first things I tell people when I meet them, but if we find ourselves on the topic of memes, I sometimes bring it up.

Q: In March 2019, there was a bizarre series of Twitter suspensions related to users tweeting the image, which were somehow flagged for “gratuitous gore.” Some speculated that the image was being mass-reported, but nobody knows for sure. Do you recall this event, and what do you make of it?

A: I don’t think I ever heard about this! Mass-reporting may be the culprit, but that makes me wonder why it would be mass-reported in the first place. I could see it being mass-reported if it was being associated with something bad, but it’s a pretty harmless and well-liked meme. My best guess is that it was an error in Twitter’s algorithm.

Q: In our Meme of the Decade poll last year (2010s), Surprised Pikachu ranked 16 out of 50, making it one of the top memes from the last 10 years, and others have attributed it to 2018’s most popular meme. Looking back on your creation, did you ever expect it to become such a hit around the web, or is it a complete shock that it spread so much?

A: Wow, I didn’t know it ranked so high! I never expected it to become this popular when I first posted it. To me, it was just another post of mine that would probably get a few thousand notes, then fizzle out into obscurity. If I had used any other reaction image, this probably would’ve been the case. I think at least part of its success can be attributed to Pikachu himself. There are a lot of other Pikachu reaction images online that I frequently see — he’s a lovable character! Still, its spread does surprise me. The fact that even to this day I still see it being used, either with the original image, the redraw of it or as a term, it does bring a smile to my face. I’m glad to have contributed something well-loved to meme culture.

Q: As you know, Wired published a piece on the meme back in October suggesting that Surprised Pikachu was a marketing campaign coinciding with the release of Detective Pikachu. Although you expressed that you had no contact with Pokemon or any sort of marketing team, the author said “I am 95 percent confident that this meme was the most successful stealth marketing campaign of 2018.” What do you make of this claim and how did you respond to the story?

A: I wasn’t aware of the article until someone on Twitter shared it with me in November. I had a few conflicting feelings while reading it — first and foremost, I had no idea that, on a statistical level, this meme was so big. I knew it was popular, but seeing how quickly it became popular did come as a shock to me. Looking at the statistics, I can see why someone would have doubts about its origins. Why would a random picture of Pikachu spread so fast? Why was it so much more popular compared to other memes from that year? So, I don’t take offense to anyone thinking there might be ulterior motives behind its origin. But, it was hard not to find the article a bit funny — seeing how much time and effort went into the research for this claim, only for the answer to ultimately be “Nah, I just liked that picture of Pikachu and posted it,” is like a researcher’s nightmare. That being said, I did find the data aspect of it really cool.

My reaction aside, I did get in contact with the author of the article, and we had a nice conversation about the meme and its origin. It was really enjoyable to contribute because that had been the first time I was contacted about the meme and my first opportunity to tell my story.

Q: Right, so how much did Pokemon pay you to keep that information under wraps?

A: I can neither confirm nor deny whether or not the Pokemon company or Pikachu himself had a private meeting with me, nor whether or not Pikachu is actually very soft and fluffy and sounds exactly like Ryan Renolds.

Q: Finally, the truth comes out. In all seriousness, memes have become quite a tool for marketing or brand awareness in recent years, whether successful or not. Bud Light Seltzer even hired a dedicated meme creator earlier this year. Since you experienced something sort of similar to this, how do you feel about companies or brands using memes for promotional purposes online? Do you think this is a trend that’ll continue to persist in the future?

A: I’m not a fan of it, in most cases. I think the issue lies with the intent. When an average person posts a meme, it's simply because they think it’s funny and want other people to enjoy it. When a brand uses a meme, it’s a way for that company to gain attention from younger audiences — they want to humanize their brand in order to sell a product, so it will always be insincere.

That being said, I do think it depends where the meme is coming from. If a company like Amazon posts a meme, which has been at the center of some controversy, it’s probably not going to be taken well by the audience. But if you look at the example of Surprised Pikachu being referenced by the Pokemon Twitter account, it’s a bit more palatable because it actually relates to the product and the tone is still professional. When other companies use their Twitter accounts to set up a fake persona that uses the same tones and phrases that a real person would use, it’s immediately unappealing and off-putting. I think it can only be effective if the company in question stays professional, doesn’t disregard its brand, and already has a good rapport with its audience. But, even then, I find it hard to look past the obvious intent.

Q: After that Wired piece came out, did you ever receive any hate mail or anything from people accusing you of pushing a meme for profit? What about any other messages, responses or things like fan art from people about the meme?

A: Nope, despite everything, I still have a pretty minimal online personality, and luckily I haven’t received any hate or retaliation because of the meme. I have mentioned that I started the meme a few times in the past couple of years on Tumblr or Twitter, and I’ll get messages where people tell me they had no idea and they think it’s cool. Any attention I’ve gotten because of it has been positive. It isn’t really a focal point of my online “brand” and I don’t think the majority of people recognize me as the creator of it. If someone were to click on my profile, they wouldn’t be like, “This is Angela, the creator of the Surprised Pikachu meme,” or something like that.

Q: Although it’s a relatively basic reaction image, what Surprised Pikachu memes from over the years are some of your favorites? Have you made any other variants yourself?

A: I like the ones where people acknowledge the original meme structure and stick to that. Surprised Pikachu is best used when the text is referring to a situation where someone knows the outcome will be bad, but still acts surprised. Although I can’t say I don’t enjoy seeing it be used in any context. I haven’t made any variants per se, but I do make an anniversary tweet each year for it.

Q: So what about other memes in general? Got an all-time favorite or some recent examples that you’re into lately?

A: I’m not sure if I have a definite favorite, but I’ll always love whatever new cat memes are created. They just become instant classics. The “Hello? Hi!” one is really good, and the more recent one of a cat making a popping sound with its huge photoshopped mouth Pop Cat is another favorite. Another more recent meme trend I like is when people take Facebook posts and change the text to something wildly different, like this one here.

Q: Okay, last one before we end things here. Seeing how you spawned the Surprised Pikachu meme, would you say that Pikachu is your favorite Pokemon or just the one that happened to have the perfect expression you needed for a meme? What other underutilized Pokemon do you think would make ideal candidates for other memes?

A: I wouldn’t say Pikachu is my favorite Pokemon, but he’s hard not to love. Considering he’s the focal point of most of Pokemon’s media, there’s just a lot more content related to him that can be turned into memes. His expression in the meme is pretty funny and cute, so I would love to know who actually drew it (or if they’ve seen the meme!). Ash’s Charizard from the original series has some meme potential because of its personality, but I think that’s been used before. As for new examples, I’m not really sure! It would depend on which Pokemon are featured in the anime and have more human-like expressions.

Angela is the original creator behind the Surprised Pikachu meme. You can find her memes and follow her on Twitter or Tumblr to see more content.