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 cultural force. After a very long hiatus, the challenge was to reawaken that fandom, and reignite intense anticipation for the impending premiere of Stranger Things 4.

After a multi-month advertising campaign leading up to the return of the fourth season of Stranger Things, and to spark a massive, nearly instantaneous outpouring of fan-love around the globe, we conceived this groundbreaking activation event by opening portals (rifts) to the show’s terrifying alternate dimension, the Upside Down, worldwide.

Each location was chosen for its iconic stature within its local market, and for the visual audacity, plus earned media potential of seeing a familiar landmark transformed at truly epic scale.

Create a global activation event that drives immediate massive earned media attention and propels social conversations in the days before Season 4 premiere. An event that transforms fan anticipation into an unmissable global event, catapults media attention, and supercharges fan love on social platforms. Must be visual, communal, shareable, and truly headline worthy.

Transforming towering landmarks into gigantic rifts to the Upside Down is one of the largest ambient stunts ever attempted. All reveals took place within 24 hours – each during local evening before the global premiere. Cryptic teaser clues led a highly motivated global fanbase to each location, promoting via their own social networks to drive mass attendance. Fifteen viewing plazas/spaces were prepared that morning as optimal shared viewing locations.

Cryptic coordinates were posted 2 days prior on May 24. Fans deciphered the cryptic posts and spread widely on their social feeds. Social conversations drove fans to iconic landmarks in fourteen countries. Fans gathered at these viewing plazas the evening of May 26th (local times). As rifts began opening, social media buzzed with the impending return of this monstrous series.

The global stunt reached a fever pitch in New York City, as Stranger Things talent visited the Empire State Building for the official lighting ceremony. The rift opened, and for two hours, an original storyline was projected onto the 500 foot tall skyscraper, while an immersive on-the-ground fan experience brought the city that never sleeps to a standstill. The gigantic scale of each rift, along with the surprise reveal, practically guaranteed mind-blown emojis, massive earned media, and hundreds of millions of social impressions within the 24 hours leading to premiere.

Our fifteen rift takeovers within 24 hours of global premiere 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 in one day. 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.