The Transportation Security Administration is not known for its sense of humor. Recently, though, TV-savvy travelers couldn't help but snort with laughter.
To promote Griselda, the crime drama starring Sofia Vergara as Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco, Netflix affixed ads for the show to plastic bins at airport checkpoints to make it look as if someone had spilled a very suspicious white powder in them. "This was the last chance to throw it out," the container copy read.
The campaign was hip, it was funny, and, somehow, it was approved by the TSA.
"We definitely went through some approval back-and-forth, but ultimately they found the humor in it," says Shelly Gillyard, Vice President of Marketing for Netflix. A similar ad for Wednesday, Netflix's Addams Family update, showed the title character (Jenna Ortega) with her arms sternly crossed and read "No sharp objects? What a shame." A third, for the plane crash thriller Yellowjackets, asked fliers, "Pack enough snacks?"
Yes, it was a cannibalism joke, but fans ate it up.
Why so provocative? "We take a bespoke approach to marketing," Gillyard says. "With Griselda, we knew we had a title that was edgy, so we needed to make sure that we had a campaign that fit that edginess. We found a lot of really fun, contextual ways to surprise and delight fans."
Meanwhile, Australian Netflix fans were surprised and delighted by pop-up porta-potties inspired by Emily in Paris, Heartbreak High and Squid Game. The short-lived loos appeared on the shore of Sydney Harbor last February for one day only. Dubbed a "Tudunny" — a term that marries the proprietary "tudum" heard before every Netflix show and the "dunny," Australian slang for toilet — these TV-themed thunderboxes underscored the fact that more than 20% of the streamer's Aussie subscribers say they've watched Netflix while otherwise indisposed. Bad taste? Maybe. But the stunt got noticed.
The Tudunny, an Australian Netflix spokesperson explained, was in keeping with the service's overall attitude: "We want to show fans that we understand them, that we're prepared to meet them where they are and that we'll keep bringing them more of what they love. That's the challenge for any brand right now."
Creative marketing has always been part of television. Almost 60 years ago, The Monkees rolled the Monkeemobile, a souped-up Pontiac GTO seen in the show, to generate enthusiasm for that musical show. In 2017, Rick and Morty hit the streets with the Rickmobile. Same idea, only fans could track the vehicle's location via social media.
More appetizing tie-ins have involved pop-up restaurants. Before the third season of Breaking Bad, in 2010, AMC opened temporary outposts of Los Pollos Hermanos, a fast-food drug front in the series, in Los Angeles, New York and Austin. In 2018, Prime Video's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel brought the Carnegie Deli back to life, giving fans a vintage taste of that series. Vogue called the recreated New York eatery, where Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda and pastrami sandwiches were on the menu, "a nostalgic fever dream."
More recently, Max asked eight New York City eateries to choose sides — Team Green or Team Black — to promote June's season two premiere of House of the Dragon with specialty food items themed to the Game of Thrones spinoff. These ranged from Vhagar's Pie (a cherry pepper, mozzarella and pepperoni–topped pizza) at the venerable John's of Bleecker Street to the Dragonstone Delight (a Scottish salmon, cream cheese and black caviar–stuffed sandwich) at Murray's Bagels. Each came with a baseball cap declaring the wearer's allegiance.
But to see the splashiest Dragon promotion, fans needed to look up from their Valyrian Cheesecake — way up. In midtown, for 10 days, a blow-up version of Vhagar herself was wrapped around the mast of the Empire State Building as part of an immersive gaming experience on the skyscraper's 80th floor. Even those who've never been to Westeros raised a Team Black Targa-Ray-Ta to toast advertising this ingenious.
This article originally appeared in emmy Magazine, issue #10, 2024, under the title "TV Changes Its Spots."
