Overview

Pokéverse Philippines refers to a reportedly disastrous convention held at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong, The Philippines for Pokémon fans. The event went viral after an attendee, Twitter / X user @BintuRita, documented the event on social media, showing myriad flaws with the event, including many areas and "attractions" with seemingly no ties to Pokémon, misleading advertising and ill-behaved staff. The event drew comparisons to other infamously bad events such as Dashcon, Fyre Festival and the Glasgow Wonka Experience.

Background

In late April 2024, the Facebook page for "Pokéverse" rolled out various details for a Pokémon convention to take place between May 31st and June 2nd at the SM Megamall.^[1] On April 29th, they released a poster for the event, teasing appearances by Veronica Taylor, the voice of Ash Ketchum, and Jason Paige, the singer of the Pokémon theme song (shown below).

Shortly after the announcement, users online warned against attending the event, citing that the event had no connection to Nintendo, Gamefreak or Pokémon and that the organizers were Kaloscope, an NFT company, and "Frigga Charmed Life by Marites Allen," which sells charms.

On May 5th, 2024, the Twitter account @OoCPokémon^[2] warned users against attending the event, gaining over 280 retweets and 880 likes in one month (shown below).

Developments

The event went forward as planned between May 31st and June 2nd, 2024. On June 4th, Twitter user @BintuRita^[3] began a lengthy thread about the myriad failures and bizarre aspects of the convention. Her first tweet gained over 7,300 retweets and 42,000 likes in one day (shown below).

In her thread, she described the convention as a "barren space" (photo shown below, left). There was a large area devoted to Frigga merchandise that had nothing to do with Pokémon. Later in the convention, the rest area was scrapped and replaced with a few bean bag chairs. Cosplayers were forced to use this "rest area" as a changing area. She also said that photographers hounded this area (shown below, right).

Other oddities include an area with inflatable carnival games that had no connection to Pokémon; activities advertised as interactive, Pokémon-themed activities turned out to be promotions for unaffiliated products; staff members filming individuals without consent. In a particularly notable moment from the thread, Rita mentions "Ravioli Man," an attendee who was covered in sauce and eating ravioli sauce off a jar he kept in his pocket. He was said to have smelled "like rot."

On the final day of the convention, the organizers brought terminally ill children onstage and had them introduce themselves one by one (shown below).

Online Reactions

In response to @BintuRita's tale, the event received international news coverage and inspired memes in early June 2024. The thread was covered by IGN,^[4] Kotaku,^[5] Comicbook^[6] and other news outlets. These stories compared the tale to other infamous events like Dashcon, Fyre Fest and the Glasgow Wonka Experience.

On June 4th, 2024, X user @OoCPokémon^[7] posted a meme comparing the festival to Dashcon, gaining over 2,800 retweets and 17,000 likes in one day (shown below, left). The same day, user @Groenboys^[8] said the "Ravioli Man" could be the event's infamous mascot, like Dashcon's ball pit and Glasgow Wonka's "The Unknown," gaining over 20 retweets and 100 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References