How 'Squid Game’ is winning attention from brands

Netflix’s Korean-language thriller “Squid Game” is on its way to becoming one of the streaming giant’s most-watched original series of all time and advertisers are taking notice, using the pop culture phenomenon as a vessel for their brand messaging. The show isn’t even a month old and yet has attracted significant attention from marketers, particularly in the social media realm, all of whom are keen to capitalize on the show’s swift success and resonance with viewers. For the uninitiated, “Squid Game” features a roster of competitors playing childhood games such as “Red Light, Green Light” and the dalgona challenge, a Korean game involving extracting shapes from a disc of melted sugar, for a nearly $40 million prize. The catch is, those who lose the games are killed. It’s not the first time brands have gravitated toward hit Netflix originals: There was “Tiger King,” which brought a slew of brand tweets and fantasy collaborations; then “The Queen’s Gambit,” which triggered a wave of marketers embracing all things chess (not to mention a surge in sales of chess sets themselves); and of course “Stranger Things,” a popular series so nostalgia-tinged that it prompted Coca-Cola to revisit its disastrous “New Coke” launch of 1985. While it remains to be seen just how far marketers will run with their “Squid Game” tie-ins—the show only debuted on Netflix just over three weeks ago—it has compelled audiences worldwide and appears poised to be a hit with brands as well. Unlike mainstream TV, Netflix doesn't offer brands the opportunity to run commercials, so marketers must look elsewhere and get creative to tap into the show's hit status. Brands and independent creators alike have been having fun with “Squid Game” memes that utilize some of the show’s most iconic scenes. Nutter Butter generated healthy buzz after superimposing an image of its product on a “Squid Game” guard’s head and declaring that it wants “Nut Game” instead. It even responded to fellow legume brand Mr. Peanut’s show-related meme on Twitter with its nutty take on the show’s premise. (As you might imagine, a raft of Twitter users soon voiced their sometimes NSFW opinions on Nutter Butter’s #NutGame trend.) Squid Game this, Squid Game that. We want Nut Game @netflix pic.twitter.com/42uTcpiNpO— Nutter Butter (@NutterButter) October 1, 2021 Heineken likewise took to Twitter last week to liken its red star-shaped logo to one of the games played in the series, hinting that it was “the best pick” alongside a circle, square and umbrella shape. The best pick #Heineken pic.twitter.com/S1lDbuYPi0— Heineken (@Heineken) October 7, 2021 “Squid Game” has enjoyed much of the same success in the Asia-Pacific region as it has in the U.S., with brands there also jockeying for a piece of the action amid the show’s popularity. Malaysian public transit operator RapidKL released a video on Facebook of two men playing ddakji, a Korean game involving flipping folded cards, mirroring a scene in the show's first episode that takes place in a Seoul Metro station. Hong Kong Airlines riffed on the aforementioned dalgona game, posting on social media a sugar disc with an impossible-to-extract image of one of its jets. And in the days after the premiere of “Squid Game” on Netflix, Kuala Lumpur-based bank RHB Group created a Visa card emblazoned with a circle, triangle and square à la the symbolic business cards seen in the series. View this post on Instagram A post shared by RHB Banking Group (@rhbgroup) The popularity of “Squid Game” has been a boon for the show’s stars, many of whom have seen their social media followings skyrocket, especially in English-speaking countries, with some of its actors even being approached for brand ambassador deals. Actress and model HoYeon Jung, who stars as one of the show’s indebted contestants, had the most rapid follower growth on Instagram from the time of the show’s debut on Sep. 17 through Oct. 4, according to data from influencer marketing platform HypeAuditor. Jung gained 12.5 million Instagram followers in that period—and has added at least 3 million more in recent days—with fellow “Squid Game” stars Wi Ha-jun and Lee Yoo-mi also occupying two of the top five spots on the fastest-growing account list, HypeAuditor shows. “Social media, and in particular, Instagram, is a main channel for Netflix and other streaming services to promote TV series. We saw that by the end of 2020, many actors from other Netflix, Hulu, or HBO shows were among the top 100 growing accounts of the year,” said Alexander Frolov, HypeAuditor's CEO and co-founder. He cites the parallel social media success of other Netflix actors including Millie Bobby Brown of “Stranger Things” and Zendaya (full name Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman) of “Euphoria,” whose Instagram accounts gained 9.7 million and 18.2 million followers, respectively, in 2020. Register for Ad Age Next: Streaming at AdAge.com/NextStreaming. For Jung at least, the fame gained from her “Squid Game” role appears to be paying off. On Oct. 6, Louis Vuitton announced that the former “Korea’s Next Top Model” competitor (who is also now the most-followed Korean actress on Instagram) had been tapped as the luxury brand’s newest Global House Ambassador. “I immediately fell in love with HoYeon’s great talent and fantastic personality, and I am looking forward to starting this new chapter of the journey we started at Louis Vuitton a few years ago,” Nicolas Ghesquière, creative director at Louis Vuitton, said in a statement. #LouisVuitton is pleased to welcome #HoYeonJung. The Netflix #SquidGame star joins as new Global House Ambassador for Fashion, Watches and Jewelry. pic.twitter.com/m22ig17oLu— Louis Vuitton (@LouisVuitton) October 6, 2021 For its part, Netflix created a series of pop-ups and themed activations across several global markets. In South Korea, the streamer last month launched a takeover of the Seoul Metro’s Itaewon Station, turning the subway stop into “Squid Game World” replete with life-size props from the series, colorful wraps and branding, and interactive elements including a towering gumball machine that mirrors the show’s take on classic Korean playground games. In the Philippines, Netflix installed the creepy animatronic doll from the show’s “Red Light, Green Light” episode at a busy Manila intersection. In Paris, it recreated some of the most recognizable elements of “Squid Game” at a cafe, including the ddakji game from episode one and the masked guards identified only by a circle, square or triangle. And stateside, Netflix revamped its marquee billboard in Los Angeles with what it dubbed a “Squid Game PSA:” “Remember: red light means stop,” referencing the same episode as the doll in Manila. That’s in addition to merchandising deals in the U.S. that have placed “Squid Game” T-shirts on Walmart shelves in the streaming platform’s largest-ever pact with a national retailer. When Instagram & Facebook are down. pic.twitter.com/mVFlVOOCOC— Netflix (@netflix) October 4, 2021 And—spoilers ahead—the show’s finale leaves the door open for a potential “Squid Game” season two, which, if produced, would likely make engaging with the series and its stars in a long-term way an even more promising investment for marketers keen to hold audiences’ attention. Such has been the case with marketing darlings like Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” which is currently awaiting its fourth season and still commands significant interest from brands, versus other popular series such as “The Queen’s Gambit,” which are one-offs that tend to lack the longevity needed to sustain a marketing campaign at scale. Register for Ad Age Next: Streaming at AdAge.com/NextStreaming.

How 'Squid Game’ is winning attention from brands

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