H&M Summer Collection

For the past three years, the store has touted everything from t-shirts of Eleven in her quintessential leggo-my-Eggo look to hoodies with the classic red title logo. This time around, however, H&M is going all out with a full-blown Stranger Things summer collection, including everything from bathing suits to sliders and button-ups, and they've even snagged stars Dacre Montgomery and Francesca Reale, dressed in Billy and Heather's season 3 lifeguard gear, as the faces of this ad campaign.

All in all, the clothes aren't bad and the campaign certainly not us unpalatable as other cheesy partnerships between stores and media giants. In fact, I would say that the small but inspired collection of Stranger Things merchandise they've got lined up for this summer is a major upgrade from the mostly cringy collection of printed tees that H&M usually carries for the show. True, this might be a cash grab, but I'm a sucker for this '80s inspired swimwear and I can't say that I don't want to throw on that Demogorgon button up and see if it really can look as sexy as Dacre Montgomery makes it.

If nothing else, this effort to create actually fashionable merchandise for the show deserves an acknowledging nod, if not a peek at the merchandise in person. Whatever your opinions are, I'm certainly stopping by one of their locations to sport my support for the show.

Coca-Cola and LEGO Join the Campaign

I'm gonna just kill two birds with one stone and talk about these together because honestly there's not too much to say about either.

So. Coca-Cola and LEGO. Like H&M before them, they're both finally riding the wave of Stranger Things hype and coming out with show inspired and partnered merchandise.

Coca-Cola is probably the more exciting of the two, as it's a far more impactful brand than LEGO, you probably care about it much more than LEGO if you're over fifteen, and Coke has done blessedly more to bring attention to the fact that they're pairing up with the Netflix titan. Just yesterday, a semi-promo, semi-commercial was released including major players in the main cast, from all members of the Party to soccer mom himself, Steve Harrington. True, it hardly reveals anything new about the show that anyone who has been paying any attention hasn't already noticed, but it's a fun and cute little promo with some nice retro VHS-type coloring that will excite any super fan.

Plus, for history buffs, it's poking fun at the '80s advertising meltdown that was "New Coke," a new Coca-Cola recipe that was made to reinvigorate the brand and replace the old recipe and which hilariously blew up in the soda company's face. People were practically rioting over "New Coke" and demanded the classic version of the Cola so viciously that New Coke has virtually been extinct ever since. Everyone hated it then, but now, in tandem with the Stranger Things and its summer of '85 vibe, New Coke is making a comeback.

Who knows? Maybe we'll love it. The promo itself is a blast, and that bodes very well for the beginning of this larger campaign.

The link to the video is here:

https://youtu.be/yrTVc6bfzVg

Then you've got LEGO. I don't really know how to feel about this one. Considering that the audience of Stranger Things falls strongly between fifteen and fifty, I'm not entirely sure how the toy sales of this product will do considering that these toys are usually meant for children slightly out of the age range to truly enjoy Stranger Things.

That is not to say that love wasn't put into LEGO's Stranger Things you set. In fact, they got a bit creative, announcing an Upside Down themed set including the Byers' house on top and an inverted hellscape version of the property connected to the bottom, directly upside down and decorated with all members of the major season 1 cast, including the infamous Demogorgon. It's kind of amazing actually, but I fear that this interesting and seemingly heartfelt homage to the show, while perhaps gaining the appreciation of the show's fans, might not create the financial gain that the company was hoping for.

Still, though, it's a cool product, and it's got a bit more love behind it than your usual corporate cash grab.

Character Posters and THAT PROMO.

So now that sales are out of the way, let's get down to promotion. First up we've got new character posters! Just two days before the time of my writing this article, Netflix released '80s thriller themed posters of the entire major cast, from tweens to teens and adults.

Honestly, there's not much to say on the subject. They're simply something you'll have to see for yourself. While they hardly tell us anything know about the upcoming season, they again show the increased production value of the series and reassert the care that the creative team is taking to give fans the exciting promotional campaign that we deserve after waiting so long for this season.

Lastly, we've got that promo. Yes, that promo. The one with Billy, the Californian trash-stash dream boy. Shirtless. Strutting in front of a row of horny, middle-aged moms. Yep. That promo.

Let's just go ahead and agree that this video is twelve different kinds of weird, not least of all because Billy is only freshly 18, practically a child, and he's being creeped on and ogled by married mothers probably three times his age. In fact, that's something that I'd like to talk about in a future article, as I disagree with the way in which physically attractive actors, boys included, are passively allowed to be eye candy in these weird, pervy situations and hardly anyone blinks because being naturally attractive for some reason means that you must become a sexual object.

But let's bottle up that catty social rant and save it for another time. Billy's sexy teenage body is the focus of these moms' attention. It's weird and gross, though relevant to the time, I guess, considering that music from the classic Fast Times as Rushmore High is playing in the background. Moving on.

Other than the weird perversity of that aspect of the promo, the clip also shows the fun, newly energized spirit of what we'll hopefully see in July. The bright, colorful setting immediately provides a contrast to the admittedly duller tones of the first two seasons, likely colorized in such a manner to create a more vintage look, and the dramatic cuts, zoom-ins, and dramatic slow-mos, amping up the absurdity and fun of Billy strutting to reclaim his lifeguard post before chewing a kid out for running by the pool and threatening to ban him for life, all point to a season reinvigorated and ready to embrace the childish energy of summer. Maybe that's putting a little too much stock into this not even two-minute clip, but you can decide for yourself:

https://youtu.be/V3L1qrisKFE

If nothing else, it's another little tidbit the Duffer Brothers have thrown our way in preparation for what will surely be an absolute blow-out of a premiere. At this point, I've made my excitement for the new season loud and clear and, even if you've only seen bits and pieces of the show in passing, I encourage you to give this new chapter a chance. The Stranger Things team has had plenty of time to rack their brains on how to create a story that, if not in the same spirit as the beloved first season, will certainly be a fun must-see for the summer of 2019. Give it a try. Hell, maybe even buy a shirt. Now that the campaign has begun, there's practically no escape for anyone anymore.

Mine as well enjoy the ride while it lasts.