Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably familiar with the Pokémon Go craze currently sweeping the country. But not everyone is amused by this new digital obsession: some businesses are banning patrons from playing the game inside — even if it means missing out on capturing the virtual creatures — while others are turning the popular game into a way to drum up business.
The game enables users to capture creatures just about anywhere. Thus, public spaces and private buildings can become virtual hunting grounds for capturing creatures, “gyms” where users can exercise their characters, and PokéStops for acquiring much-needed items like “eggs.” If it all sounds like nonsense, that’s because it is.
Regardless, as we’ve noted before, this “use everything around you” aspect of the game has created a few issues, like the house that was turned into a gym, leaving Pokémon Go players lingering outside.
Those same issues are now popping up for businesses, and some aren’t exactly happy about it.
Racked reports that one popular place to pickup or exercise Pokémon is the local mall. That’s led to some stores banning players or kicking them out for loitering too long.
For example, Sephora and Forever 21 have reportedly asked people to leave.
In one case, a player recalled on Twitter that she was playing the game at Forever 21, spotted a creature outside the door, and ran to catch it. The only problem was she was still holding several clothing items that weren’t paid for.
Some stores have embraced the craze and their status as a character hotbed or PokéStop.
Still, many restaurants and retailers have posted signs notifying players that they must be a paying customer to use the game inside.
Others, including the National Holocaust Museum, have asked guests to refrain from playing the game inside.
“Playing the game is not appropriate in the museum, which is a memorial to the victims of Nazism,” Andrew Hollinger, the museum’s communications director, told The Washington Post. “We are trying to find out if we can get the museum excluded from the game.”
Photos had previously popped up online showing creatures being captures in the museum.
WKRG-TV reports that a local cemetery has also asked that certain areas be off-limits to Pokémon searchers.
Mobile Memorial Gardens has even added signs warning noting that visitors are near a “Restricted Area: No game-play allowed on these premises,” complete with a crossed out Pokémon character.
“We expect the same kind of decorum in the cemetery, which should only be for the families that choose to have their loved ones placed there,” Chairman of the Board at the Gardens Dick Pennington, said.
Pokemon Go Has Invaded Forever 21, Sephora, and Every Mall in America [Racked]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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