Highlights
- A surprising insurance ad from the 1990s references the Super Mario series and minor villain Lemmy Koopa, showcasing the character's widespread fame.
- Mario's adventures have been referenced in various forms of media, including movies and TV shows, solidifying his iconic status.
- The ad's inclusion of Lemmy, a lesser-known character, suggests a writer who was well-versed in Mario lore, leaving fans to speculate on the decision's purpose.
A strange reference to the Super Mario series and the Koopa Kid Lemmy was recently discovered in an insurance ad from the 1990s. Perhaps the most well-known and iconic character in video games, Super Mario has become synonymous with Nintendo and is one of the few characters that even most non-gamers will immediately recognize. This has allowed the heroic plumber to keep his place in the spotlight over the years.
Mario has been appearing in games for four decades, and his fame regularly gets him referenced in other media as well. From movies to TV shows to comics, Mario has appeared pretty much everywhere. As it turns out, over the years, his adventures have even been mentioned in less expected places, and even some of his minor antagonists have received some recognition.
On Twitter, a connoisseur of Mario lore going by Supper Mario Broth recently shared an insurance ad from the late 1990s that references not just the Super Mario series but the villain Lemmy in particular. The ad apparently ran sometime between 1996 and 1998 in a newspaper in New Mexico. The premise of the pitch is that homeowners' insurance will give people peace of mind and free them up to do the things they enjoy. Specifically mentioned as possible fun activities are using the internet and playing Super Nintendo to defeat Lemmy Koopa.
Lemmy is one of Bowser's children and serves as the third boss in Super Mario World. Players must raid his castle and defeat the Koopa in order to progress to the next region. While introduced in Super Mario 3, Lemmy made his first appearance on the Super Nintendo in Super Mario World, and this is likely the game being referenced in the ad. Super Mario World is one of the best retro games of that era, and it was still popular in the late 90s.
At first, this may seem to some like a company trying to appear hip by making references to things the kids were into at the time. Super Nintendo was one of the major game consoles at the time, and the internet was just beginning to go mainstream. On the other hand, as Supper Mario Broth points out, Super Mario World came out six to eight years before this ad ran. Further, while Lemmy is among the Mario characters with the most amazing hair, he is simply another boss in the game and far from a major character. These facts would seem to indicate that whoever wrote the ad was actually well-versed in Mario lore.
Why an insurance company in Santa Fe in the 90s decided to reference a random boss from an old game to appeal to homeowners' is unclear. Super Mario was and is iconic, with more Super Mario games in development. Still, mentioning Lemmy specifically in this insurance ad was quite strange. Fans will just have to chuckle and speculate about why this decision was made.