THIS POP-UP BAR GOT ANIMATED PUSHBACK

Organizer cites directive from company that co-owns popular brand

Pokémon-inspired event canceled.

Themed pop-up bars and events are glorified Instagram backdrops, and PokéBar was always destined to be just that.

But the “Pokémon-inspired” pop-up bar, sheduled to take place at Exdo Event Center on Sunday, was also hoping to put its money where its tiny, animated mouth was — with DJs, custom cocktails and competitive Pokémon-hunting challenges that added to the colorful visuals.

Not anymore. On Wednesday, a publicist for PokéBar said the Denver stop of the nationally traveling event had been canceled, citing an unspecified directive from Pokémon Nintendo, which is one of the companies that co-owns the wildly popular global media brand.

The internationally traveling pop-up also had planned stops in Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Houston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Orlando, Fla., and the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Montreal, among others. Several of those events appear to have been canceled as well.

“Despite being unaffiliated with Pokémon Nintendo, we unfortunately have been given no other option but to change the name of the event and a number of elements,” Terry Adams of Hyper PR said via email. “We are currently in the process of rebranding and relaunching in Denver for Nov. 3. We will be contacting our customers within the next week.”

Sarah Weiss, Exdo Event Center’s event manager, referred questions about refunds, the number of tickets sold and the reasoning behind the cancelation to Viral Ventures, the event’s creator.

“All customers will be contacted via Eventbrite and will be given the option of either transferring their ticket to the rebrand’s launch event in Denver on Nov. 3 or receiving a full refund,” Adams said. “If they choose to take the refund, we will process

the refund through Eventbrite. As for the relaunch, yes, it is happening; however, it will be at a new venue.”

That may or may not be good news to the untold number of people who shelled out $45 per person for two hours at PokéBar. Billed as a two-day (Sept. 2829) event as recently as July, PokéBar quietly revised its schedule to a single day — slated to open at 11 a.m. Sept. 29 — and now, no days.

PokéBar was originally produced by Australiabased Viral Ventures, which creates “unique experiences that go viral,” according to its website, and includes brands such as Hot Tub Cinema Party, Ball Pit Party, Bed Cinema and The Brick Bars.

“We’re targeting ourselves in a sense, tapping into those well-known brands that we all kind of love,” Viral Ventures cofounder James Farrell told The Denver Post in May.

It’s unclear whether event organizers licensed the Pokémon name and imagery from Pokémon Nintendo, but licensing issues appear to be at the heart of the cancellation. When contacted, a Nintendo of America spokesman said, “We have nothing to announce on this topic.”

Viral Ventures brought their first pop-up event, Mushroom Rally (a play on Mario Kart), to Denver in April. The response encouraged Viral Ventures to plan five more pop-up events in the metro area for the rest of 2019, Farrell told The Post in May.

“We know which concepts are going to work,” he said. “The stuff we do tends to get some noise.”

As of Thursday morning, Farrell and other Viral Ventures officials had not responded to requests for comment on the cancellation of PokéBar. The event’s former website, thepokebarpopup.com, now redirects visitors to a homepage that advertises a different event, the Monster Brunch, a “themed burger and trivia brunch,” with a mailing-list signup at the bottom.

A disclaimer, credited to Wonderland Events, reads: “We are not associated with Nintendo or any other brand.”

“Wonderland approached Viral Ventures to help promote the event, but Viral Ventures has since ended their involvement in the event,” Adams said.

Steven Louis, a representative for Wonderland Events, has not responded to an email requesting comment.

If you bought tickets to PokéBar and haven’t heard from organizers about a refund or exchange, email John Wenzel at jwenzel@ denverpost. A burger-centric trivia night, which might just be the Denver event’s replacement, is a far cry from hanging with Pokémon (and fans) for a couple of hours.