Netflix sends off 'Stranger Things' with bike rides and product blitz

Netflix's hit sci-fi series "Stranger Things" is about to ride to its conclusion with a marketing and merchandising blitz befitting a blockbuster movie.

Ahead of the fifth and final season's debut on Wednesday, thousands turned out in Los Angeles at a cycling event dubbed "One Last Ride," a nod to the show's bike-riding teenagers in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.

Retailers are offering everything from Demogorgon Crunch cereal to Hellfire Club backpacks for what is Netflix's largest consumer products programme to date, said Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Marian Lee.

Target stores are selling more than 150 "Stranger Things" products. Many brands are leaning in to 1980s nostalgia. Gatorade brought back an '80s Citrus Cooler flavour, and Walmart is selling a "Stranger Things" collection of Care Bears, one of the hot-selling toys of that era.

The promotional push extends around the world.

"This is a show that really resonates globally," Lee said.

In Paris, visitors can browse a Hawkins Christmas market at the Galeries Lafayette department store. A "Stranger Things" experience featuring the Hawkins Lab has stopped in San Francisco, New York, Rio de Janeiro and Sydney. New Netflix Houses inside malls feature "Stranger Things" areas.

Instead of releasing all episodes at once, Netflix will stagger the final season's episodes around major holidays. Four episodes debut on Wednesday, the day before the US Thanksgiving Day holiday, three on Christmas Day in December and the final episode on New Year's Eve.

"Stranger Things" - whose stars include Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard and Noah Schnapp - will be hard to miss throughout the holiday season. A "Stranger Things" float featuring 1970s and '80s rock band Foreigner will appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. More products will arrive to tempt holiday shoppers.

The all-in approach is similar to what movie studios employ for big-budget films such as Barbie or Wicked, said Amanda Cioletti, an expert on licensing trends and vice president of content and strategy at research firm Informa Markets Global Licensing Group. TV shows rarely receive such treatment.

"We see 'Stranger Things' everywhere," said Cioletti. "When you are on social media you see it, and you see it in all the storefronts. You see it in every other placement that makes sense."

Fans at the Los Angeles bike ride voiced anticipation for the final season of a series that began nine years ago.

"The (show) started when I was in about sixth grade, so I was the same age as the characters when it started," said 21-year-old Chloe Allen. "It's definitely been a huge part of my life."

Netflix hopes to keep fans interested in the "Stranger Things" world for years. A play called Stranger Things: The First Shadow is running on Broadway and London's West End, and an animated series is set for next year.

A live-action spinoff also is planned. "It's not a continuation of the story of Hawkins, of these characters, but it's still in the universe of 'Stranger Things,'" Co-Creator Ross Duffer said.

Executive producer Shawn Levy revealed few details but said he and the Duffers would offer fans something new. "We are never going to repeat ourselves," Levy said.