“As you’re about to watch the show itself, you get one of these ’80s ads that brings you immediately into that setting and the characters that you love, and then you go on to watch the show,” Herran said. “It’s been an opportunity for brands to participate and get much closer to the show itself.”
Among some of the marketing highlights, Discover ads featured Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) earning rewards while buying gear to take on the Upside Down. Meanwhile, Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) uses Tide to clean her kids’ clothes of blood and gore.
“When we collaborate with brands, we really get into these sessions where we’re brainstorming together and trying to find the moments that make the most sense. And that was like, ‘Hey, the kids go through a lot of gore and a lot of goo,’ and Tide existed in the ’80s,” Herran said. “You find these unique intersections in it, and then the rest is really about, ‘Can we get the storytelling right to make sure it comes to life?’”
Adding to the challenge for the final season, Netflix is a global brand, and it required campaign executions around the world, which included things like McDonald’s activations in Spain, Portugal, and Brazil, and KFC creating “Hawkins Fried Chicken” in the U.K.
Showcasing how worldwide brands could participate in the final season, Netflix partnered with Deutsche Telekom, a German telco that wasn’t around in the ’80s, to create an ad that feels like a scenario straight out of the show, with the Stranger Things kids trying to watch as many ’80s movies as possible to prepare for facing Vecna.
And the Stranger Things crew couldn’t have one last ride without some brands that had been around since the beginning.
Eggo, for instance, was in the original script long before any brand deals, serving as Eleven’s go-to meal in the first season. The brand is returning once again with a strawberry waffle inspired by the show. Meanwhile, Google, which made character stickers in the first season, came back with a Search scavenger hunt.
Perhaps tying things all together, Netflix teamed with Target, which turned stores into Upside Down experiences while carrying more than 150 items available in-store and online, including Eggo waffles, Kellogg’s cereal, Funko Pops, Scoops Ahoy ice cream, branded apparel, and dozens of collectibles.
“Target existed back then and in present day, and will host the biggest assortment of the consumer products you could buy to celebrate the show,” Herran said. “So again, it’s this idea of finding a very unique opportunity and creative angle for each of the brands.”
