Michael Jackson. Shakira. Fred Astaire. Patrick Swayze. Michael Flatley. Beyonce. Anna Pavlova. And now, Psyduck.
Yes, that’s right. Today, my friends, is a special day: Pokémon number 54 has entered the ranks of the best dancers to have ever graced the surface of planet earth – and it’s all happened in a rather unexpected way.
A new toy has been released by KFC China as part of a promotion for Children’s Day – which takes place in the region on June 1 – that features either a Pikachu or Psyduck toy. That, in itself, isn’t really news. But wait until you see the Psyduck. Wait until you see its hypnotic moves. Its rhythm. Its power.
KFC China is running its Pokémon toy promotion for Children’s Day (June 1) where a kids meal comes with a Pikachu or Psyduck toy
The Psyduck toy has gone viral on social media given its dancing capabilities and is selling out quickly. Listings online are priced up to $200 atm pic.twitter.com/INeNGWUhgD
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 24, 2022
Per industry analyst Daniel Ahmad (AKA ZhugeEX), the Psyduck toy has gone viral on social media given – and its no surprise. People the world over are transfixed by Psyduck’s moves. In an age where TikTok dances can make their way into games and cause battle royales to go viral, it’s no surprise that Psyduck has captured the attention of PokéManiacs the world over; fans outside of China are snapping up Dancing Psyducks on auction sites for $120+.
Some unscrupulous trainers are attaching pieces of paper to the Psyduck, and using its dancing capabilities to promote… whatever they want, basically. Given that a single KFC Big Bucket Meal in KFC China right now will give you two Pikachu toys – as well as this jiving duck – it stands to reason that some fast food-enjoyers in the region stand to make a lot of cash from the toy.
This Psyduck toy by KFC is popping off in all Chinese Social Media. It’s just so fun LUL. People put sticky paper to his hands with text on it and show anything they want. pic.twitter.com/Pj31bYcufm
— CuewarsTaner (@CuewarsTaner) May 23, 2022
Though you make think it’s odd to see Psyduck get so much attention, it shouldn’t be that surprising, really: Junichi Masuda – one of the founding members ofPokémon developer Game Freak, and a Director of the Board at the studio – has previously noted that Psyduck was considered to star oppostie Pikachuin Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! The little duck was overlooked, in the end, because of its similarity to Pikachu. Boo. Masuda has stated, on more than one occaision, that Psyduck is his all-time favourite Pokemon.
It is currently unclear whether Psyduck will make it to European or North American shores. We don’t really have an equivalent of ‘Children’s Day’, so unless there’s a wider Pokémon promotion on our shores, we may be doomed to live a flat, Psyduck-less life for the foreseeable. Unless you’ve got a spare $120+ in your pocket.
function appendFacebookPixels() {
if (window.facebookPixelsDone) return;
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘1749355691872662’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
window.facebookPixelsDone = true;
window.dispatchEvent(new Event(‘BrockmanFacebookPixelsEnabled’));
}
window.addEventListener(‘BrockmanTargetingCookiesAllowed’, appendFacebookPixels);
