Since its debut in 2016, Stranger Things has become more than a beloved series– it’s a worldwide phenomenon. Nearly three years after the Season 3 finale, the entire world eagerly awaited the return of this monstrous series.
In anticipation of its fourth season, and to spark fan-love around the globe, we launched a groundbreaking campaign by opening portals (rifts) to the show’s terrifying alternate dimension, the Upside Down, worldwide.
To announce our global takeover, Netflix and Stranger Things’ posted cryptic coordinates on their social channels, inviting fans to decipher the location of each portal. Only the most astute determined that these rifts would appear across fifteen iconic landmarks in fourteen cities, from Mumbai to New York.
In Milan, a rift opened up on the facade of the historic Palazzo Carminati in Duomo Square, surprising 7,000 people who enjoyed a preview of the first episode.
In Kraków, the Upside Down took over one of Poland’s most iconic buildings, The Wawel Castle. It was the first marketing stunt on this historical building with massive social buzz – even the mayor of the city posted about the projection.
Sydney became the Upside Down Under, as a portal appeared overnight on the iconic Bondi Beach. Blanketed by eerie morning fog, the giant rift appeared, measuring 65 feet in size, garnering national and global media coverage.
The global stunt reached a fever pitch in New York City, as Stranger Things talent visited the Empire State Building for the skyscraper’s official lighting ceremony. Later that evening, a rift cracked open on its iconic facade where fans everywhere were transported into the Upside Down and met the show’s new villain Vecna. For two hours, an original storyline was projected onto the 500 foot tall skyscraper and an immersive on-the-ground fan experience brought the city that never sleeps to a standstill.
Our fifteen rift takeovers shocked the world, with many saying that it was “the best promotional marketing [they’d] ever seen”, and asking “has anyone done that before?” Press headlines blanketed the globe, generating over 190MM organic impressions. And it made an impression on fans too: with over 110,000 viewers attending the stunts in person and 100MM impressions in global influencer reach.
Our campaign served as a springboard for the release of the new season, as Stranger Things 4 quickly became the most watched English language series ever on Netflix. In the end, Stranger Things plunged fans into its world in the strangest, stuntiest ways possible – proving once again that all roads really do lead back to the Upside Down.
