With Stranger Things 5 now streaming on Netflix, many brands have capitalised on the cultural phenomenon but few campaigns feature the four leading boys in an original story.

To promote streaming platform MagentaTV, Deutsche Telekom has enlisted the cast of Stranger Things to star in a campaign film titled, ‘Everything In One Place’.

The film takes place at Mike’s house, with the four leading boys in Mike’s basement preparing for a final battle in the Upside Down. To prepare, the boys create a machine to watch “infinite hours” of fight scenes from classic ‘80s movies.

The campaign borrows from the recognisable Stranger Things universe to dramatise the challenge of finding everything back in the 80s to showcase how simple and easy it is to find whatever you want to watch on MagentaTV.

The spot sees the boys build a ‘machine’ to collate all their favourite fight scenes. The machine was built over several weeks and was fully functional, made up of more than 300 bespoke VHS titles and ‘80s movie artworks. Deutsche Telekom licensed five key films to ensure authenticity to the 80s, E.T., Back to the Future, Alien, Commando, and The Empire Strikes Back.

To maintain authenticity to the time period and the show, the campaign sees Finn Wolfhard as Mike, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin, Noah Schnapp as Will and Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas. To authentically recreate the Stranger Things look and feel, production design was led by Sean Brennan, the show’s original set designer, who helped recreate four iconic rooms. The campaign’s cinematographer Lachlan Milne worked on key episodes of Seasons 3 and 4 of Stranger Things. He ensured the spot captures the show’s visual magic from the nostalgic lighting to its framing.

The spot is soundtracked by Billy Squier’s track ‘Lonely Is the Night’ woven together with original score elements from the series to maintain the show’s iconic soundscape. While post-production house Katalyst collaborated with the Netflix production team to bring to life the Upside Down vines in the ad.

The film closes with the Telekom ‘T’ logo flipped upside down. The brand has also created a treatment for its sound logo with a familiar Stranger Things synth effect added.

“Our goal was to craft a campaign that captivates audiences, while respectfully celebrating the incredible legacy the Duffer Brothers created," explained Paul Knott, Creative Director, adam&eveDDB London.

Fully immersing audiences into the world of Stranger Things, the campaign capitalises on the cultural firepower of the show and shows the boys in an original story viewers haven’t seen before.