‘Squid Game’ brand collabs—inside the Season 2 marketing onslaught

“Squid Game,” the South Korean dystopian survival thriller series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, premiered in 2021, catching the world by storm. The first season introduced a story of hundreds of cash-strapped contestants who accept an invitation to compete in children’s games for an enormous cash prize. They soon realize, however, that the stakes are deadly. The show captured worldwide attention, becoming Netflix’s most popular series ever. (A reality series, “Squid Game: The Challenge,” followed in 2023.) “Squid Game” Season 2, which will finally be released on Dec. 26, has already been nominated for a Golden Globe. Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2024 Global ad spending, rankings, analysis and profiles for the biggest marketers Click here While marketers had no way of knowing how popular “Squid Game” would become in 2021, many brands are pulling out all the stops to align themselves with Season 2. The show’s symbolism, inside references and more are popping up in campaigns worldwide. Below, Ad Age has highlighted how many brands are gearing up for Season 2. Netflix As the show’s global streamer, Netflix unsurprisingly has launched marketing efforts that include brand partnerships, merchandise and more. The platform’s most notable “Squid Game” activation comes in the form of a real-life “Squid Game” experience, launched in New York and Madrid. At “Squid Game: The Experience,” fans of the series can compete and have fun playing games inspired by the show, including “Red Light, Green Light,” “Warship” and more. Additional locations will open in Seoul, South Korea, and Sydney, Australia. In addition, Netflix launched an official multiplayer video game, “Squid Game: Unleashed,” on Dec. 17. The streamer also has country-specific activations. In Romania, for example, Netflix launched a gruesome campaign that’s part scavenger hunt, part fashion merch drop—as the bloodied tracksuits of Season 1’s 454 victims were hidden in Bucharest thrift stores for fans to find. McCann Worldgroup Romania led the campaign creatively. Bibigo Korean food brand Bibigo is offering limited-time products with “Squid Game”-inspired packaging. The items include Mandu, steamed dumplings, bung o’ pang (fish-shaped waffles), rice balls, Gimbap, Tteokbokki, fried squid and seasoned seaweed. They will be sold at grocery stores and other retail locations in Korea, the U.S., U.K., France, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Sweden and Taiwan. Call of Duty Activision Blizzard’s “Call of Duty” video game is launching a crossover event with “Squid Game” in January. While the details have not been released, a teaser video posted on X shows an in-game character picking up a card featuring the three “Squid Game” symbols. An invite you can't ignore 😮Netflix Squid Game comes to Call of Duty this January 🤝 pic.twitter.com/BhHoTcErdq— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) December 2, 2024 Crocs Crocs’ limited-edition design inspired by the dystopian series takes inspiration from the contestants’ green tracksuits, featuring a zipper image on the center of the clogs’ upper, and a design resembling blood splatter adorning the side and back of the shoe. The “Squid Game” logo appears on the rivets while player ID “456” dons the ankle strap; the sole also features symbols related to the game. The shoe is retailing for $69.99. Domino’s The pizza chain created a spot reimagining the famous scene from Season 1 of the “Red Light, Green Light” game, including the deadly animatronic doll Young-hee, this time with a Domino’s delivery worker saving the day. When a player is accidentally caught moving, he orders an emergency pizza, which conveniently causes Young-hee to overlook his mistake. The ad comes from WorkInProgress. Duolingo Duolingo launched a campaign to motivate people to learn Korean to gain a greater appreciation for the series—“or else.” Created in-house, the campaign features Duo the Owl dressed as a Pink Guard, making not-so-subtle threats to “do your Korean lessons,” which feature over 40 new keywords and phrases from the show. Duolingo also remixed the ominous “Pink Guards” song and recorded a music video, in which Duo playfully threatens learners to practice Korean. Johnnie Walker x Uber Eats Johnnie Walker launched 456 unique bottles, correlating to the number of players in “Squid Game,” for fans to collect. In October, the whiskey brand held an in-person game of “Red Light, Green Light” in Times Square, where real New Yorkers played against “Squid Game” players, with special guest Dave Burd (aka, Lil Dicky). This week, the brand launched a holiday spot starring Lil Dicky and the Pink Guards partying together with a “Squid Game” themed bottle of Johnnie Walker, delivered with the help of Uber Eats. Creative was led by MA+ Group. KAWS Artist KAWS unveiled a figurine blending elements of the “Companion” character with the chilling animatronic figure from the series, Young-hee the robot. The figurine dons an orange jumper over a yellow short sleeve collared shirt, like Young-hee, except she has Xs for eyes, gray, cloud-shaped-ears and white gloves with another signature X that covers her eyes once her arms are re-positioned, typical of KAWS’ style. She also sports white knee socks and black patent leather shoes. International orders for the interpretation begin Dec. 19, with a pop-up shop opening in Seoul from Dec. 20 through Jan. 5. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @kaws Lucie Kaas Scandinavian design collective Lucie Kaas created a capsule collection of three Kokeshi dolls—simple Japanese wooden dolls that have been crafted for more than a century as toys for children, modeled after characters from “Squid Game.” Collectors can purchase a masked Pink “O” Guard, Player 456 and Young-hee for a limited time. Mattel Mattel Creations released a set of Little People dolls based on characters from “Squid Game.” The four figures in the Little People Collector Set were modeled after a Pink Guard, Young-hee and two players from the game, including No. 456, the protagonist played by Lee Jung-jae. View this post on Instagram A post shared by MATTEL (@mattel) In addition, Mattel is releasing a 10.5-inch-tall Monster High Skullector Doll of Young-hee, the robot from the series. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Monster High (@monsterhigh) Read Ad Age’s Best of 2024 stories here McDonald’s Australia The chain launched a Squid Game Meal featuring a limited-time Korean barbecue dipping sauce and Dalgona Candy (featured in the series) in the shape of a triangle, circle, star or Golden Arches “M.” The meal packaging includes a QR code that grants access to a digital Dalgona Candy Challenge (like in the show), where players race against time to carve out the shape on the candy without snapping it for a chance to win $100,000 or enter into a drawing to win a McDonald’s Squid Game Green Player tracksuit. McDonald’s replaced Dalgona’s umbrella candy shape with a more challenging Golden Arches “M.” The mobile game, developed by media agency OMD Australia and creative agency Ackcelo, also features an immersive film that includes the voice of Jeon Young-Soo (전영수) as the Game Instructor. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Marcus Smith (@mnmtwinz) Puma The apparel brand created tracksuits modeled after the player uniforms in “Squid Game,” reimagining them in black and mint green velour with prints of the staircase in the show’s set. In addition, the Puma x Squid Game collection includes a green hat, co-branded hoodies and graphic tees, as well as two new sneaker styles inspired by the show—a green pair featuring a Young-hee charm and a suede pair in pink and blue hues. WhatsApp Group chats will undoubtedly be active when “Squid Game” Season 2 premieres, and WhatsApp is placing itself in the center of the conversation with a campaign that highlights the kinds of chatter that can spark on the platform as viewers watch. Created by Gut, the ad features teasers from the new season as bubbles pop of messages between friends. “456 IS BACK!!!!” one reads, as someone responds, “No smile this time.” In addition to the spot, Whatsapp billboards in Time Square highlight funny group interactions around the show. Xbox Xbox’s collaboration features a limited-edition “Squid Game” controller, of which there are only 456 units. The controller features a transparent shell with the Pink Guard motif. Xbox is hosting a giveaway that includes a gaming cabinet designed to look like the Young-hee doll in the “Red Light, Green Light” game. Want a piece of the Squid Game universe?Follow & Repost with #XboxGameOverControllerSweepstakes for a chance to win a decked out Young Hee Gaming Cabinet which includes customized controllers, an Xbox Series X, and more!Ages 18+. Ends 1/22/25. Rules: https://t.co/tmWzXbU746 pic.twitter.com/WO5DLRCsaV— Xbox (@Xbox) December 5, 2024

‘Squid Game’ brand collabs—inside the Season 2 marketing onslaught

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