How Stranger Things Turned Branding ‘Upside Down’

stranger-things-season-3-has-turned-branding-upside-down

How Stranger Things Turned Branding ‘Upside Down’&nbsp; 

[[p]]The hit Netflix series, Stranger Things, is back for its fifth and final season.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]A magic mix of epic&nbsp;[[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/brand-storytelling-in-the-digital-age" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]storytelling[[/a]], nostalgic charm, and perfectly positioned 1980s-era product imagery has transformed&nbsp;Stranger Things&nbsp;into a&nbsp;gargantuan pop culture icon.&nbsp;What began as a supernatural adventure set in small-town Hawkins has grown into a global entertainment ecosystem.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The alternate universe within&nbsp;Stranger Things&rsquo;,&nbsp;dubbed&nbsp;the&nbsp;&lsquo;Upside Down&rsquo;,&nbsp;is no longer simply a fictional dimension, it&nbsp;has&nbsp;become&nbsp;a&nbsp;marketing playground for brands&nbsp;eager to tap into the show&rsquo;s&nbsp;loyal fanbase&nbsp;and ever-expanding&nbsp;social&nbsp;footprint.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]As the show&nbsp;has&nbsp;gained momentum&nbsp;since its debut in 2016, so&nbsp;has&nbsp;its impact beyond traditional viewership. Each new season&nbsp;has&nbsp;sparked fresh waves of fan&nbsp;engagement, viral&nbsp;trends, and cross-industry collaborations.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The final season debuts the largest and most immersive collection of brand partnerships in the show&rsquo;s history, spanning major retailers, sports franchises, food and beverage juggernauts, toys, and apparel.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]To understand how Stranger Things&nbsp;continues&nbsp;to resonate with audiences and brands alike,&nbsp;let&rsquo;s&nbsp;take a look&nbsp;at&nbsp;how&nbsp;this&nbsp;marketing&nbsp;universe&nbsp;has evolved since its debut, and what&nbsp;top brands have&nbsp;capitalised on the hype.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]]How the Stranger Things&nbsp;universe&nbsp;has&nbsp;changed over time&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]]How do brand collaborations&nbsp;boost buzz?&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]]The&nbsp;future of&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;marketing&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]]What can&nbsp;marketers&nbsp;take away from Stranger&nbsp;Things marketing?&nbsp;[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]First launched in July 2016, Stranger Things rocked&nbsp;[[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/the-unstoppable-success-of-netflix" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]Netflix[[/a]]&nbsp;users from the get-go, capturing the attention of&nbsp;[[a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stranger-things-netflix-ratings-2016-8" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]8.2 million users[[/a]]&nbsp;in its first 16 days on the streaming platform.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Since then, the show has become a&nbsp;social&nbsp;phenomenon with a global army of fans&nbsp;from&nbsp;all demographics. Its third season broke Netflix&nbsp;viewership&nbsp;records, reaching 40.7 million household accounts between July 4 and 7, 2019,&nbsp;according to The Guardian.&nbsp;Even the show&rsquo;s teasers have amassed&nbsp;astronomical numbers, with the&nbsp;[[a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKZyYdwS3Wg" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]Season 5&rsquo;s preview[[/a]]&nbsp;reaching 26 million views&nbsp;in just four months.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]But&nbsp;it&rsquo;s&nbsp;not just the show&rsquo;s viewership and acclaim that have&nbsp;grown.&nbsp;Its audience has&nbsp;also&nbsp;expanded, with long-time fans&nbsp;enjoying&nbsp;a near decade-long journey&nbsp;with the show&rsquo;s characters&nbsp;(and the brands they see portrayed).&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]And as the universe has evolved, so has the way viewers engage with it. Social media, far more ingrained today than at the show&rsquo;s launch,&nbsp;has&nbsp;become an integral element to the show&rsquo;s fan engagement and its branding.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Audiences who have matured alongside the series turn to platforms like TikTok, Instagram, X, and Reddit to dissect theories, create memes, and fuel thriving&nbsp;[[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/why-you-should-prioritize-community-over-content" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]online communities[[/a]].&nbsp;Many fans have&nbsp;made AI-assisted fan art,&nbsp;leveraging&nbsp;technology to make their creations come to life.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]A wise move, indeed. In addition to creating a brand buzz within the show itself, Coca-Cola released a&nbsp;limited-edition&nbsp;batch of&nbsp;New Coke,&nbsp;earning the brand roughly&nbsp;[[a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stranger-things-turns-upside-down-the-business-of-product-placement/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]$1.5 million[[/a]]&nbsp;in ad placement value from this single initiative.&nbsp;[[/p]]

New Coke was always going to play a role this season. It was one of the first ideas in our Season three brainstorm. It was the summer of '85, and when you talk about pop culture moments, New Coke was a really big deal. It would have been more bizarre to not include it

[[p]]The&nbsp;fast-food&nbsp;giant&nbsp;played a huge part,&nbsp;particularly in season three.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Appearing in a whopping&nbsp;five out of the eight episodes in the season, Burger King amassed just over two minutes of&nbsp;total&nbsp;screen time,&nbsp;featuring&nbsp;in the&nbsp;Starcourt&nbsp;Mall scenes and consumed by Hopper and Joyce in the Chapter Six episode.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Burger King&nbsp;then capitalized&nbsp;on the placement, releasing&nbsp;its&nbsp;&ldquo;Upside Down Whopper&rdquo;&nbsp;and taking to social media platforms to announce the collaboration.&nbsp;The campaign included an&nbsp;upside down&nbsp;burger (served&nbsp;wrong-way&nbsp;up),&nbsp;1980s-inspired packaging,&nbsp;and teaser videos and social campaigns referencing the fictional Hawkins.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Doritos has embraced the supernatural flair of&nbsp;Stranger Things&nbsp;Season 5 with its limited-edition &ldquo;Portal Pepper&rdquo; chips, packaged in&nbsp;vintage-inspired&nbsp;bags designed to mirror the ominous visuals of the Upside Down&nbsp;and&nbsp;elicit a sense of nostalgia.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]What sets this partnership apart is its augmented-reality twist: fans can use their phones to scan the packaging and open AR portals that reveal exclusive digital content tied to the storyline.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

Stranger Things Doritos collaboration. Source: Yahoo 

[[p]]This collaboration blends snackable fun with interactive storytelling, making it one of the most accessible and engaging tie-ins of the season. By merging&nbsp;flavor&nbsp;innovation with digital play, Doritos delivers a product that feels both modern and deeply connected to the show&rsquo;s lore.&nbsp;[[/p]]

Hopper holding Burger King bag. Source: Reddit 

Fan art of Stranger Things poster. Source: User Puzzled-Drive2805 via Reddit 

[[p]]This constant engagement keeps&nbsp;Stranger Things alive&nbsp;across many&nbsp;platforms,&nbsp;even extending into&nbsp;[[a href="https://www.netflix.com/tudum/features/stranger-things-5-events" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]in-person events[[/a]],&nbsp;and&nbsp;has paved the way for innovative brand partnerships that tap directly into its&nbsp;momentum.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The concept of strategic brand partnerships with Stranger Things&nbsp;has been there from the beginning.&nbsp;In the first season,&nbsp;Eggo waffles&nbsp;(the&nbsp;favorite&nbsp;food of pivotal character, Eleven) and Kentucky Fried Chicken&nbsp;(KFC) worked&nbsp;their way in&nbsp;to make the show more authentic while adding extra fuel to the marketing fire.&nbsp;These&nbsp;mutually-beneficial&nbsp;initiatives are woven seamlessly into the set, the storyline, and even the script.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Based on creative collaboration rather than promotional tactics or paid advertising space alone, these partnerships boost&nbsp;brand&nbsp;storytelling&nbsp;and&nbsp;awareness in a way&nbsp;that&rsquo;s&nbsp;organic, engaging, and offers genuine value.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Not only do some partner brands feature in the show itself, but by creating digital campaigns and&nbsp;social media&nbsp;strategies in conjunction with Stranger Things, the buzz has broadened&nbsp;exponentially.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Let&rsquo;s&nbsp;take a look&nbsp;at some of the top brands that&nbsp;have&nbsp;secured partnerships&nbsp;that have run&nbsp;throughout the&nbsp;series:&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Revisiting the &lsquo;New Coke&rsquo; marketing blunder of&nbsp;1985&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;when a failed new product cost the company millions&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Coca-Cola&nbsp;leveraged&nbsp;Stranger Things&rsquo;&nbsp;1980s backdrop to revisit its epic failure, placing the product at the heart of some of the show&rsquo;s best scenes.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]In&nbsp;Season&nbsp;3, characters are seen enjoying &lsquo;New Coke&rsquo; and&nbsp;there&rsquo;s&nbsp;even a&nbsp;tongue-in-cheek reference to the 1985 consumer disdain for the new beverage when Lucas is&nbsp;seen&nbsp;swigging&nbsp;a&nbsp;can in the&nbsp;Starcourt&nbsp;shopping mall.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Speaking to The New York Times on the partnership, series creators, The Duffer Brothers, said:&nbsp;[[/p]]

Upside Down Whopper from Burger King. Source: Eater 

[[p]]Harnessing the power of collaboration, KFC, temporarily dubbed&nbsp;&ldquo;Hawkin&rsquo;s Fried Chicken&rdquo; has undergone a full in-restaurant takeover, featuring a new rift-red &ldquo;Stranger Things Burger&rdquo;,&nbsp;&ldquo;Stranger Wings&rdquo; (coupled&nbsp;with themed sauces, retro 80s signage and decor, and Hawkins-inspired packaging.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]By&nbsp;leveraging&nbsp;the partnership, KFC merges food, fandom, storytelling,&nbsp;and the power of digital marketing to&nbsp;turning their locations into tangible extensions of the Hawkins universe.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Another key element of&nbsp;influence, besides food and drink, is fashion,&nbsp;appealing to droves of consumers from the millennial and Gen Z cohorts. That said, Stranger Things-related fashion collaborations seem only natural.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]][[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/case-studies/nike-always-ahead-of-the-curve" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]Nike[[/a]]&rsquo;s&nbsp;famous&nbsp;Cortez&nbsp;sneakers&nbsp;are featured throughout the series, worn by&nbsp;character&nbsp;Steve Harring,&nbsp;reflecting&nbsp;the&nbsp;rise&nbsp;of&nbsp;sneakers&nbsp;during&nbsp;the&nbsp;&lsquo;80s.&nbsp;[[/p]]

Nike Cortez shoes worn by Steve Harrington. Source: Footshop 

[[p]]Nike&rsquo;s involvement&nbsp;didn&rsquo;t&nbsp;stop with on-screen outfits. In&nbsp;2019,&nbsp;the brand released its official&nbsp;Stranger Things&nbsp;collection,&nbsp;complete with throwback designs, Hawkins High&nbsp;colors, and collectible&nbsp;retro packaging that celebrated the show&rsquo;s signature vintage vibe. Those releases debuted during Season 3, and now the collaboration is making a comeback for the final season.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]2025&rsquo;s&nbsp;lineup reintroduces&nbsp;some of Nike&rsquo;s most recognizable silhouettes, including the Dunk Low. The collection also features an Air Max 1 in a&nbsp;maroon palette, a vibrant LD-1000, and a high-top Field General, all inspired by&nbsp;characters from the show.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Complementing the footwear is a full apparel range including sweatsuits, track suits, and tees, each incorporating clever Nike brand remixes and subtle references to the series.&nbsp;[[/p]]

Stranger Things collaboration with Nike. Source: Nike 

[[p]]In response to&nbsp;Season 5,&nbsp;US retail chain&nbsp;Target has rolled out a&nbsp;season-long partnership.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Some of the highlights include:&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]]150+ exclusive items&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]]Apparel, snacks, home goods, collectibles&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]]In-store Hawkins-themed &ldquo;fan zones&rdquo;&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]]Multi-season retail activations&nbsp;[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]The partnership positions Target as an official Stranger Things destination, transforming ordinary retail&nbsp;into an immersive fandom experience.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

Stranger Things Target merchandise. Source: YouTube 

[[p]][[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/case-studies/lego-the-building-blocks-of-a-modern-day-superbrand" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"]]LEGO[[/a]]&nbsp;is expanding its Stranger Things lineup with new&nbsp;BrickHeadz&nbsp;character sets inspired by key heroes from Hawkins.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]These collectible builds give fans a tangible way to bring the show&rsquo;s characters into their homes and display their affection for the series in miniature form. For a franchise as rich with iconic characters and visual identity as&nbsp;Stranger Things, LEGO&rsquo;s approach feels particularly well-aligned.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The&nbsp;collectability&nbsp;factor ensures that this partnership continues to engage fans long after the season ends, offering a lasting piece of the Stranger Things universe.&nbsp;[[/p]]

Stranger Things Lego set. Source: Brick Fanatics 

[[p]]With its deep narrative ties to the Stranger Things story world, Dungeons &amp; Dragons returns with the &ldquo;Welcome to the Hellfire Club&rdquo; tabletop edition.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]This release includes four new adventures based on the series, featuring&nbsp;Demobats,&nbsp;Demodogs, and other familiar foes, all packaged within a Hellfire Club&ndash;themed campaign book.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Given the show&rsquo;s roots in D&amp;D,&nbsp;from the boys&rsquo; early campaigns to the Hellfire Club&rsquo;s&nbsp;central role&nbsp;in later seasons,&nbsp;this partnership feels not just fitting, but inevitable. It reinforces the connection between the series&rsquo; narrative DNA and the imaginative, cooperative spirit of tabletop gaming.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The brand has also&nbsp;relied&nbsp;heavily&nbsp;on social media to promote their campaigns,&nbsp;leveraging&nbsp;platforms like&nbsp;Instagram and Reddit to announce the collaboration and drive sales.&nbsp;[[/p]]

Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons set. Source: Amazon

[[p]]Stranger Things&nbsp;has become a benchmark for how entertainment can shape culture, commerce, and consumer engagement.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Through its partnerships, the franchise has shown how to build long-term relevance, extend storytelling across industries, turn fictional elements into real-world products, and create immersive retail and experiential activations that resonate across generations.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The marketing strategies pioneered throughout its run represent a new standard for entertainment-driven branding, and Season 5 proves that this model is only gaining momentum.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Build authentic partnerships[[/strong]]&nbsp;that naturally align with your brand and the story&nbsp;you&rsquo;re&nbsp;tapping into.&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Use nostalgia intentionally[[/strong]], drawing on retro elements only when they resonate with your audience.&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Expand the story[[/strong]]&nbsp;through design, packaging, experiences, or character tie-ins.&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Leverage interactive digital tools[[/strong]]&nbsp;like AR, digital quests, or exclusive content to create active participation.&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Offer tangible touchpoints[[/strong]], from limited-edition merchandise to experiential pop-ups.&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Harness community-driven platforms[[/strong]], joining TikTok trends, Reddit discussions, and fan-generated creativity.&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]][[strong]]Extend the buzz strategically[[/strong]]&nbsp;with pre-launch teasers, mid-season activations, and post-release collectability.&nbsp;[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

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How Stranger Things Turned Branding ‘Upside Down’

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