How the extravagant “What’s Your Favorite?” Super Bowl LX spot is being used to prime a mainstream audience for Pokopia, Legends: Z-A, and Pokémon’s 2026 roadmap.
Pokémon didn’t spend Super Bowl LX talking about release dates or platforms. Instead, its “What’s Your Favorite?” spot spent a full minute doing something much simpler: asking Lady Gaga, Trevor Noah, Jisoo, Charles Leclerc, Lamine Yamal, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Young Miko and millions of viewers at home to name a single favorite Pokémon.
It looks like pure anniversary fan-service, but that $15–20 million broadcast buy is quietly setting the stage for The Pokémon Company’s 2026 slate, with Pokopia and Pokémon Legends: Z-A right at the center.
The commercial itself is deliberately system-agnostic. There is no overt call to preorder Pokopia on Switch 2 or to circle a date for Legends: Z-A. Instead, it sells Pokémon as a shared cultural language. The question “What’s your favorite?” is almost a soft reset of the brand, inviting lapsed players, kids who only know the anime, and older fans who dropped off after Red and Blue to emotionally reattach to a single creature.
That mass-market feeling is crucial when you look at where the games are heading next. Pokopia, the March 2026 life sim spin off, is about slow living, cozy customization and building a Pokémon paradise rather than chasing badges. Legends: Z-A, meanwhile, is positioned as the more traditional core-adjacent blockbuster anchored in Kalos. Together they give Pokémon a one-two punch for the year: a low-pressure, lifestyle-friendly entry point and a deeper adventure for players who want something closer to a mainline experience.
The Super Bowl spot effectively bridges those audiences. Its celebrity roll call ranges from music and film to sports and K-pop, a cross-section that mirrors the different ways people engage with Pokémon. The subtext is that there is room in the brand for however you want to play. That is exactly the pitch Pokopia needs as it tries to reach the Animal Crossing crowd without losing long-time fans, and it is also the emotional on-ramp Legends: Z-A can ride when it returns with a heavier marketing push closer to launch.
The price tag matters because of what it signals. Industry estimates put a 60 second Super Bowl LX slot comfortably above the rumored development budget of Legends: Z-A itself. That contrast has sparked backlash among core fans, but from a brand perspective it also underlines how aggressively The Pokémon Company is treating 2026 as a reset year. The Super Bowl is less about selling a single SKU and more about claiming mindshare before a new hardware cycle, a cozy spin off in Pokopia, and the long tail of Legends: Z-A.
The rest of the roadmap is built to echo the ad’s core idea. Anniversary events, trading card collaborations, and cross media tie ins can all reuse the “What’s your favorite?” framing, nudging people toward different products based on the Pokémon they love. Pokopia can lean on it to highlight decorating with themed items and inviting specific species to your island. Legends: Z-A can push the fantasy of seeing that favorite Pokémon reimagined in a more cinematic story.
For players already deep inside the ecosystem, the commercial is easy to dismiss as a glossy nostalgia hit. In marketing terms, though, it plants a clear flag. Before the Switch 2 generation of Pokémon really starts with Pokopia and is reinforced by Legends: Z-A, The Pokémon Company is buying its way into the biggest pop culture stage on television and reminding a mainstream audience that everyone, somewhere, has a favorite. The next wave of games is designed to give all of those favorites somewhere new to live.