With the impending release of Sonic 2 this weekend, one could argue that Sega's iconic mascot is more popular than ever. If you're even slightly familiar with Sonic and, more specifically, his fandom, you'd know that it was an arduous journey for the character to return to the center stage of pop culture. Sonic's anachronistic personality- eternally steeped in 90s edge- made him unique during the era of his creation. In modernity, Sonic's "rude tude" was an albatross that handicapped the character's stabs at sustained relevancy.
The character's brand developed a new buoyancy when Sonic finally accepted his cultural status as a self-deprecating meme. However, Sonic was always meme-worthy- even before the term existed. In the video above, the commercial for Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Genesis aptly showcases the character's early synergy with meme culture. Let's hope that Sonic 2 keeps the meme ball rolling and propels everyone's favorite hedgehog- a title for which there's probably slender competition- into another decade of relevance.
