Netflix hit series Stranger Things returns for its third season July 4, promising fans “one summer can change everything.” To promote the new season, the series has partnered with major brands to provoke a sense of 1980s nostalgia, a throwback to the decade in which the show is set.
Eggo
Eggo frozen waffles, the preferred treat of the show’s Eleven character, began posting photos of retro billboard ads from towns named Hawkins in multiple states. (The show is set in Hawkins, IN). The drip from the Eggo logo is a reference to Seven’s frequent nosebleeds.
“These fans love the show and understand the unique relationship between Eggo and the show’s characters that has existed since the very beginning,” Marcus Collins, chief consumer connections officer at Doner, which created the campaign, told Muse.
“The response from the fans has been both positive and affirming,” he said.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola announced it would bring back New Coke, an extra-sweet version of its signature drink that famously failed in the 1980s, to celebrate the new season of Stranger Things. The company is making 500,000 cans of New Coke available on its website.
Fans can experience New Coke in real life if they are lucky enough to find one of a few upside down vending machines in select cities selling the retro cola. (In Stranger Things, the Upside Down is an alternate dimension.)
“No one would have ever thought we’d produce New Coke again after what happened in 1985, but we all agreed that if we wanted to partner with Netflix and Stranger Things in a truly culturally relevant way that would resonate with our fans – and theirs – then we had to make the New Coke story come to life,” Oana Vlad, director of Coca-Cola Trademark, said in a news release.
The TODAY Show, which revealed New Coke in 1985, announced the products return this year, featuring a photo of an original New Coke billboard.
Netflix
Netflix is using its own OOH inventory and others’ to promote the show’s comeback. Billboards in Los Angeles and Times Square have been spotted featuring the show’s most popular characters.
Last year, Netflix won a Gold OBIE Award for Stranger Things 2. A series of OOH ads, including buses and billboards, featured a glowing updside down Strangers Things logo.
Published: July 1, 2019