A Slice of the Upside Down

With all the streaming services and shows out there, how do you get fans hyped up about one specific franchise? We decided to get fans to solve a mystery – and make them feel like influencers along the way.

It started with 80s-style posters in East London featuring ample Stranger Things references – and a series of odd numbers. 

We leveraged the power of online fan communities (think: Reddit, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter) to get people hyped up about this scavenger hunt. Working together, they soon figured out that the numbers were geographic coordinates, together with a phone number leading to a cryptic voicemail. 

Pieced together, all the clues turned out to lead to an out-of-this-world pop-up experience: a literal portal to the Upside Down hidden in an alleyway in London’s Shoreditch area.

The event was only open to the public for 32 hours – and people were lining up from 6 am in the morning to get a taste. Those lucky enough to make it in were transported into the Stranger Things world, walking down a spooky tunnel into a haunted Surfer Boy Pizza parlour featuring show-related Easter Eggs, a photo booth, and our specially-created Demogorgonzola pizza. 

Those who couldn’t make the experience didn’t have to miss out completely: the Surfer Boy Pizza van delivered free pizzas and limited edition posters around London and ComicCon.

Results included 1.3k guests in 32 hours – and the experience was demonstrably talkable and engaging in that those who visited created content on TikTok and Instagram which helped us reach 20 million fans across the world and counting, also resulting in a 915% uplift in social media mentions.

(The… anatomical nature of the experience was so talkable that plenty of TikTok creators and cultural commentators discussed it, reaching as far as Canada.)