Shell Petrol Stations in Singapore launch special collaboration with Pokémon, with an exclusive range of limited-edition Pokémon dehumidifier plushies

In perhaps one of the strangest collaborations we've seen with the Pokémon franchise this year, Shell Petrol Stations in Singapore today launched an exclusive range of Pokémon dehumidifier plushies, which are available for purchase with certain minimum spends at Shell outlets. Shell will also be holding special Meet and Greet sessions with Pikachu at six separate shell stations this weekend, on September 2nd and 3rd.

Four Pokémon will be available in this special edition collection, with each plushie coming in a sleeping pose on a fluffy blanket. Plushies for Pikachu and Snorlax are available in-stores now, while Eevee and Charizard plushies launching on October 1st and November 1st respectively. Exactly how these plushies function as dehumidifiers is not made clear in the official promotional materials, however the plushies apparently include activated carbon to remove odours.

Each of the plushies can be purchased for $SGD 18.90 with minimum $SGD 70 gross spend on Shell petrol, or a minimum $SGD 15 net spend at Shell Select, excluding tobacco and in-store service items. Fans wanting to purchase Pikachu will need to specifically need to purchase Shell V-Power petrol, whereas the rest of the plushies are available with any Shell petrol product. All plushies will be available only while stocks last. All plushie purchases will also come with a Pokémon Trading Card Game "Fun Pack" and Half Playmat. This promotion is only available for customers using the Shell Asia app, and is not available for those making payments via Shell Fleet Card.

As of writing, the Pikachu and Snorlax dehumidifiers are already out of stock at a number of Shell stations, though Shell's Facebook page has promised that this is only temporary and that fans should expect the plushies to be restocked soon. Angry fans on the Facebook page have accused the company of gimmick marketing, claiming that each outlet only had a few available, and highlighting that stations had been allowing customers to buy multiple plushies in a single purchase.

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This weekend, September 2nd and 3rd, fans will be able to obtain the full set of four plushies at six Shell outlets across Singapore, with the promotion available at three stations each day. Each station will only have 60 full set bundles, and each customer will be limited to a single bundle. In addition to these bundles, the first 100 customersat each of these stations on the specified dates who purchase at least one Pokémon dehumidifier plushie after 10:00am will receive a free goodie bag including a selection of Pokémon merchandise, Shell Select merchandise, and Shell Fuel and Shell Select vouchers.

Date	Stations
Saturday, September 2nd	Shell Hougang: 600 Hougang Ave 3, Singapore 538846 Shell Siglap: 40 Upper East Coast Road, Singapore 455212 Shell Paya Lebar Macpherson: 255 Paya Lebar Road, Singapore 409037
Sunday, September 3rd	Shell Bukit Batok Nature Park: 28 Bukit Batok East Avenue 6, Singapore 659760 Shell Havelock: 548 Havelock Road, Singapore 169637 Shell Tampines Avenue 2: 9 Tampines Avenue 2, Singapore 529731

Also this weekend, short meet and greet sessions with Pikachu will be held at select times at the same set of six Shell stations. To participate in these sessions with Pikachu, customers will need to be a Shell GO+ member, and present their Shell Asia app for verification.

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Date	Time	Station
Saturday, September 2nd	11:00am - 11:30am	Shell Hougang: 600 Hougang Ave 3, Singapore 538846
Saturday, September 2nd	2:00pm - 2:30pm	Shell Siglap: 40 Upper East Coast Road, Singapore 455212
Saturday, September 2nd	5:00pm - 5:30pm	Shell Paya Lebar Macpherson: 255 Paya Lebar Road, Singapore 409037
Sunday, September 3rd	11:00am - 11:30am	Shell Bukit Batok Nature Park: 28 Bukit Batok East Avenue 6, Singapore 659760
Sunday, September 3rd	2:00pm - 2:30pm	Shell Havelock: 548 Havelock Road, Singapore 169637
Sunday, September 3rd	5:00pm - 5:30pm	Shell Tampines Avenue 2: 9 Tampines Avenue 2, Singapore 529731

Additional contests and activities are apparently planned throughout the promotion, though no further detail on these has been released at this time.

We have to say that we can't help but think that the very existance of this collaboration comes off as a somewhat strange decision by The Pokémon Company. While the plushies themselves are somewhat novel and interesting, and will certainly be popular in the sweltering humidity of Singapore, collaborating with a fossil fuel company seems highly unusual and tone-deaf at best. We can't help but think putting Pikachu on the side of a few electric car chargers, while releasing the plushies through their own Pokémon Center Singapore, might have made a lot more sense both for fans, and their brand.