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After five seasons, You fans will finally see the fate of Penn Badgley’s murderous antagonist Joe Goldberg—and Netflix planned a killer marketing stunt to set up the final series run.
The streamer isn’t a stranger to hosting innovative campaigns to get fans excited: For the fourth season, Netflix brought a bloody tea cup ride to central London, while the second season’s shift to Los Angeles saw a city-wide scavenger hunt in partnership with Overheard LA. After the first season’s debut on Netflix, Badgley and co-star Shay Mitchell greeted fans in the Philippines inside the glass cage where Joe keeps his victims.
This time around, as part of its promotion for the fifth and final season, Netflix launched an activation in SoHo on April 22 and April 23. The two-day pop-up featured a replica of Mooney’s Bookstore, the shop that Joe works at in the first season, complete with shelves lined with real books and Easter eggs from previous seasons.
There was also a scavenger hunt portion with clues that led to a separate basement with a recreation of the infamous cage, which also doubled as a photo op. For the hunt, fans were encouraged to find highlighted words and a handwritten note in the books, which also included hints to the end of the series.
On the first day of the activation, the cast of the show, including Penn Badgley, Madeline Brewer, Charlotte Ritchie, Anna Camp, Griffin Matthews, and Frankie DeMaio, showed up to surprise fans.
Shelly Gillyard, vp of marketing for Netflix in the United States and Canada, said the marketing team dug in and thought about how to tie everything together and bring it back to where it all began.
“The bookstore was that place,” Gillyard told ADWEEK. “We thought about how to live the experience of being through the bookstore, having a surprise and an opportunity to find clues through the books, and highlight all seasons—not just Season 5—but all four seasons previously, and ultimately ending up in the cage as the big payoff.”
Another part of the final season campaign included a special advance fan screening of the fifth season’s first episode at the Paris Theater on April 23 in Manhattan, followed by a Q&A with the cast.
“The fandom is palpable,” Gillyard said. “The cast is super devoted, and they all know it’s a send-off. They know that the fans are highly anticipating Season 5, but they’re also grappling with the fact that the show is coming to an end. We know how important it is to be able to touch and feel the show, and have real intimate and exciting moments, so we were excited to be able to deliver that for the fans.”
Fans who weren’t in Manhattan still had the opportunity to participate in the action. The Ripped Bodice bookstore in Brooklyn (and Los Angeles) hosted in-store scavenger hunts with prizes, including free merch and access to Tudum’s virtual fan screening from the Paris Theater. Black Pearl Books in Austin, Texas; Books & Books in Miami, Florida; and Booksmith in San Francisco all hosted similar scavenger hunt adventures, as well as access to the virtual screening.
Gillyard said the campaign for the fifth season really kicked off when the teaser trailer debuted on March 10. It then continued with a partnership with Cardi B, who reacted to the trailer.
And it’s all paid off. The streamer told ADWEEK that Season 5 has garnered over 800 million social impressions worldwide ahead of the premiere.
An impressionable You
According to Netflix, You has drawn more than 500 million global views since the show moved from Lifetime to Netflix in late 2018. In addition, You has made the global top 10 list for 31 weeks and reached the top 10 in all countries, per the streamer.
Netflix also announced that Seasons 2 through 4 have amassed over 1 billion impressions globally.
“A lot of times shows don’t increase in viewing every season,” Gillyard said. “We’ve been really successful at that—and every year there’s been different types of fan-forward approaches that we’ve taken on to keep the conversation going.”
The show is having an impact on book sales as well. Netflix shared that there was a 584% increase in sales for the first book following the premiere of the first season in 2018, as well as a 32% increase since the premiere of the fourth season in 2023. A year after the premiere of the first season, there was a 197% increase in sales of the first book.
Gillyard pointed out that prior to the first season, Badgley only had 543,000 followers on Instagram before the show headed to Netflix. However, ahead of the premiere of the fifth season, he currently has 5.3 million followers (896% growth) and 4.6 million followers on TikTok.
“When the show came over from Lifetime, we were able to infuse life into it,” Gillyard said. “Netflix has had the ability to grow the fandom and the stars in the show, and the growth of the show is something we’re really proud of.”
