Netflix is about the set the consumer products and fast-food businesses Upside Down.
The streamer has partnered with seemingly every company on planet Earth to cash in on its final season of Stranger Things. The merch and branding push spans everything from a near-2,600-piece LEGO set ($299.99) to Tide, the laundry detergent brand. And oh yeah, there’s a Stranger Things 5 car.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with so many fantastic brands, offering fans — and fellow nerds — the largest collection of products and experiences in Stranger Things history and one of our biggest campaigns yet as we celebrate the fifth and final season of this globally beloved series,” said Marian Lee, Netflix’s chief marketing officer. “For nearly a decade, the Stranger Things franchise has made an undeniable cultural impact and leaves a lasting legacy. These collaborations perfectly capture the iconic show’s essence, from Hawkins’ nostalgic ‘80s aesthetic to the thrilling mysteries of the Upside Down, enabling fans to connect with their favorite show in new and exciting ways.”
OK Marian, now list them all off the top of your head. We’ll wait.
Thankfully, Lee’s team pieced together a handy-dandy guide to all the ways you can pay extra for the ST5 logo slapped on retail products.
The new LEGO Icons set, Stranger Things: The Creel House, is pretty cool though. The 2,593-piece set, “a tribute to the eerie epicenter of supernatural chaos happening in Hawkins,” features an open-back design and seven furnished rooms. It is “packed with Stranger Things Easter eggs from all five seasons,” LEGO/Netflix said, “and includes 13 minifigures of beloved characters from the final season.”
It’s a dream come true for series creators the Duffer Brothers.
“We grew up obsessed with the LEGO brand, so seeing Stranger Things rebuilt in bricks is honestly surreal,” Ross and Matt Duffer said. “With the show heading into its final chapter — and hitting the 10-year mark — bringing the Creel House to life this way feels like the perfect celebration of the world and the fans who made all of this possible.”
But wait, there’s more! There’s so. much. more. It’s not even the only Stranger Things 5 LEGO.
Netflix has also teamed with Jazwares, Squishmallows, Funko POP!, Care Bears, Penguin Random House, Sirius Dice, Dungeons & Dragons (the official Hellfire Club version!), Ravensburger, Clementoni, Santa Cruz and Panini for stuffys, games, books and the collectibles that will end up living in the back of your closet. For the actual apparel areas, fill your hangers through partnerships with GAP, Benetton, Nike, Converse, Pull&Bear, Size?, New Era, No Boundaries, Crocs, Minnetonka, CoverGirl, Casetify, ALDO, Dr. Squatch, Zara, Clarks, Wrangler, Cotton On, Jansport, Casio and niko and… (niko and… is a brand, but the ellipsis really works double duty here.)
For home goods, shop Bialetti, Coleman, Williams Sonoma, Energizer, Displate, GUM, Bic and Maruhiro.
Binge-watching making you want to binge eat? Try Stranger Things 5 collabs with Eggo, Doritos, Kellogg’s cereal, Palermo’s (for Surfer Boy Pizza), Chupa Chups, Kinder Joy, Chips Ahoy!, General Mills, Gatorade (Citrus Cooler flavor is back!), Scoops Ahoy, Babybel, Totino’s, Starbucks, Hellmann’s, Trident and Seara. Better still, our friends in the UK and Mexico can head to KFC for some Stranger Things-branded fried chicken. For those in Spain, Portugal and Brazil, McDonald’s created an entire Stranger Things McMenu.
For all those pesky processed-food stains, Tide and Netflix have teamed to “prove that liquid Tide” is “No Stranger to Stains” with a campaign that stars Cara Buono as her Stranger Things character Karen Wheeler. They’re more talking about the blood- and general monster-splatter variety there though.
Target, Primark, Liverpool (Mexico’s premiere apparel and lifestyle store), Canada’s Joe Fresh, Hot Topic, Walmart and Italy grocery giant CONAD will gladly ring you up. Netflix Shop is one obvious online destination, but for the first time ever, Netflix Consumer Products and Amazon EMEA partnered to launch over 1,000 Stranger Things 5 products across the EU5 (the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain). No word on two-day shipping for Prime members, who are by default also Prime Video subscribers. Because of the free delivery perk, Amazon Prime Video is the only streaming service that rivals Netflix in terms of total membership numbers.
You’re definitely not going to find the next item at a big box store. Probably the craziest of the collabs is the fact that Fiat is making a Stranger Things car. Like, not a toy — a real car. “Hundreds” of customized Stranger Things limited-edition Pulse Abarths will be available in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, the companies said.
There’s more, but I’m pretty sure we can stop at a f***ing car.
