Global brands leveraging Squid Game success for their digital ad campaigns
By Zion Rufus
South Korean drama series, Squid Game which broke Netflix’s major records when it hit an historic milestone of more than 111 million viewers has gained the attention of global brands such as Airtel, Heineken, Budweiser, Pepsi, Dominos, and many more.
The Netflix series released in September, is a 9-episode survival drama which tells the story of 456 contestants neck deep in debt who have to compete through series of bloody children games to emerge winner of a ₩45.6 billion prize. With distinctive features including a tin of candy, a card of shapes, green and white tracksuits, a big globe with stacks of cash in it, and a singing doll dressed in orange and yellow, the #SquidGame on TikTok has been viewed more than 22.8 billion times with billions of people across continents mimicking the games on the show, minus the bloodshed.
Collectively, companies as well as individuals have in one way or the other resonated with the plot of the Squid Game. Where certain people have likened the plot to the disparity between the class systems in a society, others have described the satire to be about Nigerians and the economic situation which has prompted the youths to take more desperate measures in the quests for financial freedom, with much emphasis for the green and white uniform worn by the 456 contestants and the shapes drawn on the Squid Game invite which can also be found on the Nigerian currencies.
However, the outstanding breakthrough of the movie which was written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk has gained the interests of brands as they adapt the growth for their digital marketing tactics.
Heineken
Heineken, World’s Premium Lager Beer leveraged the distinctive circle, triangle, star, and umbrella shapes on the Squid Game show to highlight the Heineken Star-shaped logo with the comment “The best pick”. On the show, the contestants were asked to pick from a list of shapes (circle, triangle, star, and umbrella) after which they were handed a tin of honeycomb with the chosen shape. The contestants were required to safely trace out the shape or face death. The star shape was one of the easiest shapes to carve out of the honeycomb treat using a needle as it had shorter lines and required less skill.
Airtel
Telco giant, Airtel uses the globe with wads of cash to announce its Recharge and Blow promo. With N100 million grand prize, Airtel stated that “no one has to be eliminated.”
Budweiser
AB InBev’s Budweiser takes it up a notch as it announced “Beer games anyone?”
Pepsi
Meanwhile, Pepsi embeds their logo in the honeycomb with the caption “IYKYK” I.e if you know, you know.
Domino’s
Domino’s Pizza Malaysia sent out Squid Game customized invite cards to “hundreds of hungry customers” for an opportunity to get regular sized pizzas at a lower price.
Other brands include Gillete, Durex, and ArpaTech.
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