Republicans at the United States Congress are using Zelda to pitch the need for tax reform in America.
Specifically, the politicians are using the release of the original Zelda game to give perspective on how much time has passed since the last US tax code reform.
That’s because the first Zelda game was released in 1986, and that’s when the tax code was reformed the last time. Here’s what the republicans wrote in a note to the public:
The Legend of Zelda series is Nintendo’s best-selling video game franchise enjoyed by more than two generations of gamers. The action-adventure game was released in 1986, only one year after Nintendo’s founding in 1985.
And you know what else was released in 1986? Yeah, you do. The last major reform to the American tax code was signed into law in 1986.
It’s been 31 years, and our current code is far beyond repair.
Of course, Nintendo was not founded in 1985, it was founded way earlier, in 1889, as a playing card company.
Their original article was corrected after Nintendo pointed out that flaw. You can read it here.
And Zelda isn’t the only pop culture reference that Republicans are trying to use to reform the tax code. A month ago they wrote a similar article called “What Do Ferris Bueller and the American Tax Code Have In Common?”
Spoiler: they both cam out in 1986.
