Photo source: PepsiCo
Doritos is tapping into 1980s nostalgia with a Stranger Things partnership ahead of the show’s final season, premiering this December. The campaign unfolds through digital spots, celebrity appearances, fan-driven moments, and unsettling “Upside Down” glitches, all styled as a Hawkins-inspired telethon.
The activation centers on a hotline, 1-855-4-HAWKINS, first teased on bags of the brand’s new Pizza x Cool Ranch flavor. The number drew thousands of curious early callers, and now fans can leave supportive messages for Hawkins, with selected shout-outs featured across Doritos’ social channels and even on prominent billboards.
The “Doritos Telethon for Hawkins” campaign launches as anticipation builds for the final season of Stranger Things, which first premiered in 2016. This isn’t Doritos’ first collaboration with the Netflix series, the brand previously partnered on a virtual concert spotlighting 1980s icons like The Go-Go’s, Soft Cell, and Corey Hart. The new telethon follows that nostalgic spirit with a lineup that feels straight out of 1987, while expanding the concept into a multichannel fan experience designed to fully immerse audiences in the world of Hawkins.
“From retro visuals to surprise moments, we designed every element to make fans feel like they were part of the mission dialing into a snack-fueled hotline to the upside down,” Chris Bellinger, chief creative officer of parent company PepsiCo Foods U.S., said of the effort.
Campaign creative was handled by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners with media by OMD, social by PepsiCo’s in-house D3 agency and PR by Kechum. The effort will run on digital and social channels including Netflix, Meta, TikTok and AdMazing.
The telethon hotline first appeared on bags of the limited-edition Doritos Collisions Stranger Pizza x Cool Ranch, a collaborative flavor that blends “pizza culture” with Cool Ranch Doritos, originally launched in 1986. Expanding on the theme, the brand is also introducing Doritos Minis Glow in the Dark Spicy Sweet Chili, giving a “supernatural” twist to another fan-favorite flavor. Recently, Doritos explored a very different kind of retro vibe, channeling the look and feel of vintage adult films to promote its new Golden Sriracha chips.Stranger Things itself has long been a playground for marketers eager to tap into both its passionate fan base and its deep well of 1980s nostalgia. Brands like Chips Ahoy, H&M, Coke, Lacoste, and, perhaps most memorably, Domino’s have all partnered with the series. The show has also become a blueprint for how Netflix engages brand marketers beyond its growing advertising business, offering immersive collaboration opportunities rooted in pop culture.
