Touring Pokémon Pop-Up Bar Canceled Amid Nintendo Backlash

PokéBar, a Pokémon-themed pop-up bar scheduled to tour North America, has been canceled.

The cancellation comes after Viral Ventures, the pop-up’s Australia-based promoter, failed to secure Nintendo’s permission to use the Pokémon brand, Eater Montreal reports. (Nintendo owns partial rights to the Pokémon brand.)

The events were scheduled to take place across the U.S. and Montreal and were set to bring a plethora of food styled to look like various Pokémon characters, along with costume contests and the chance to catch Pokémon.

Viral Ventures is still planning to move forward with other events, but they will 100-percent not be Pokémon related.

The Pokébar website now directs to a themed burger and trivia brunch event called Monster Burger Bar. The website offers no further information on future (or canceled past) events. It does, however, make one point unequivocally clear: “We are not associated with Nintendo® or any other brand.”