What is Squid Game?
Squid Game on Netflix took over the world in late September of 2021. The South Korean television show revolves around 456 contestants, who all have financial struggles and hardships compete for a drastic ₩45.6 billion prizes. The catch? Only 1 contestant prevails while the other 455 players are killed during the series of the games. The game consisted of six rounds: Red Light-Green Light, Dalgona, Tug of War, Marbles, Glass Title, and lastly, the Squid Game. The show was an instant hit among viewers worldwide. It is the most-watched series on Netflix, becoming the top-viewed program in 94 countries and captivating more than 142 million member households, and amassing 1.65 billion viewing hours in the first four weeks. The success took over social media with endless memes and companies quickly took notice. Let’s look at the ways that both companies and individuals used Squid Game and the memes surrounding the show to relate their brand.
3 Companies that used Squid Game to their Advantage
Budweiser
In Episode 3 of Squid Game, the remaining players had 10 minutes to carve out a chosen design on a very fragile piece of dalgonda candy. Budweiser uses a great marketing tactic here by implementing their logo on a piece of dalgonda candy. This caused lots of engagement for the company as it was the top liked picture in October and had 54 comments.
Broadway Pizza
Broadway Pizza is a Minnesotan pizza chain with 13 different locations. The company took the Squid Game phenomenon one step further by implementing its own challenge. The challenge was to finish a 5 FT Pizza within 30 minutes. The company allowed for 3 winners and would reward each person a cash prize of PKR 500,000. This provides an incentive for people to enter and share information about this pizza brand as a result of the prize.
Netflix
The company that succeded the most from Squid Game got very creative with their #1 hit during their social media campaign. Netflix posted a series of photos comparing the infamous Red Light Green game and comparing it to other shows the streaming service has to offer. This post had a ton of engagement with over 1.5 million likes and nearly 7500 comments. Netflix also gets to use Squid Game to promote other shows which increases the likelihood that those who engaged with the post end up watching them.
How a YouTuber Changed the Game
A very popular Youtuber by the name “Mr. Beast” thrived from the success of Squid Game better than anyone. Mr. Beast has the 6th most subscribers on the platform with nearly 90 million. Jimmy Donaldson a.k.a Mr. Beast recreated the entire Squid Games in a non-life-threatening way with the winner receiving $456,000. Jimmy spent a whopping $3.5 million to produce and set up this video, hoping its success would net his profit. I don’t even think the famous YouTuber knew just how popular this would turn out. Much like the success of the actual show on Netflix, his recreation of Squid Game blew up. In only two months since posting the Squid Game recreation, the video has 213 million views which are by far the highest of any of his content. Jimmy saw what everyone was engaging with and took full advantage of it with great execution.
Key Takeaways
The takeaway from seeing how Squid Game has helped other companies succeed shows that it is perfectly okay to follow today’s trends and memes. In September of 2021, the viral show garnered 79X more interest in online discussions and searches than any other series. Word of Mouth is a crucial part of a successful marketing campaign and capitalizing on the success of Squid Game in connecting your social media content was a win for everyone involved. Combining topical content with current trends and comparing performance analytics allows companies to know things what trends their consumer base will best react to when planning their next social media campaign. The 2nd season of Squid Game is coming and if a company didn’t use the show in their marketing strategy before, it is highly recommended that they do it this time around.
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Teaching Social Media 
Very insightful article! Good job.
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