With a lot of people staying at home during the pandemic, the number of binge-watchers also increased. A huge part of this booming streaming population from the Philippines are feel-good, rom-com K-drama enjoyers.

But Squid Game is completely the opposite. It's a K-Thriller. How can Netflix help the title debut on the number 1 spot given the market preference? Squid Game bills zero stars, without their own solid fan base to hype the title up.

At the same time, how can Netflix create buzz among those who’ve already watched the film and generate curiosity from those who haven’t?

In the Philippines, 54% of road accidents are caused by jaywalkers.

And with the release of newest K-thriller Squid Game, Netflix saw that there was an opportunity here to introduce the show by bringing to life one of its most iconic and deadliest characters, the Young-Hee killer doll.

This 10-ft. animatronic doll was placed in front of a mall’s entrance facing one of the district's busiest pedestrian walks If a pedestrian crosses the street while the light is red, the doll's eyes will light up, and her head will spin to face the jaywalker.

This served as a reminder that even just crossing the street and disobeying the traffic rules can be as deadly as playing Squid Game.

The doll has chalked up 500,000,000 user-generated content views on social media, across TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook.

Philippines is one of the top countries in terms of consuming social media. With smartphones and mobile data always on-hand, anyone can post about anything, and everything under the sun. And with this, Netflix believed that if Filipinos post something online about Squid Game and how much they love the title, views and streams to the show would follow.

With an installation that’s so simple, which is at once eye-catching and terrifying, a seemingly endless wave of content from vlogs, to TikToks, to memes all featuring gigantic animatronic killer doll washed over the country.

On the weekend of Squid Game’s Philippine premiere, Netflix installed a replica of the Young-Hee doll, but placed it near a busy pedestrian walk in Manila. The catch? Instead of Squid Game contestants, this animatronic killer doll hunts down Filipino jaywalkers who do not follow traffic rules.

And just like in the series, the doll turns around to catch any moving pedestrians while the traffic lights are red.

A film was created on the pedestrians, and the doll. It has chalked up 87,700,000 views.

- The doll generated 500,000,000 user-generated content views on social media, across TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook.

- Delivered a 28,431X ROI on the campaign, as it earned USD 290,000,000 in free media, with USD 0 paid media.

- Copied by 8 other countries--the Netherlands, US, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, England, Australia, and Hong Kong--that created their own dolls.

- Covered by over 200 international publications across 34 countries.

- Drove 22% foot-traffic increase in the partner mall where the doll was installed.

- In the end, the doll was ultimately used by government to prevent jaywalking.

- Most importantly, this installation propelled Squid Game to No.1 on Netflix Philippines, staying there for 15 straight days