Tide Teams Up with Netflix's Stranger Things 5 to Reimagine its 1987 Letters to Tide Campaign Featuring New Boosted Formula
Cara Buono of Netflix's Stranger Things stars in Tide's new commercial, tackling Hawkins-level messes with the brand's most powerful clean—its biggest liquid upgrade in 20 years.
Tide®, America's #1 trusted laundry detergent brand, is proud to announce its partnership with Netflix's Stranger Things for the show's highly anticipated fifth and final season. This collaboration celebrates the show's most memorable looks - like Eleven's pink dress and Dustin's ‘Camp Know Where' tee - with stain-induced scenes inspired by the show, like Demogorgon-goo and pizza grease, putting Tide's most advanced formula yet to the test. The partnership is brought to life through a nostalgic TV commercial starring Stranger Things actress Cara Buono.
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Season 5 of Stranger Things takes place in 1987, the same year Tide launched its now retro "Letters to Tide" campaign, which featured real, handwritten letters from customers thanking liquid Tide for saving their favorite clothes. To commemorate this shared moment in time, Tide has reimagined its beloved "Letters to Tide" campaign through the world of Stranger Things. In the TV spot, Buono reprises her role as Karen Wheeler, writing a few letters to Tide. Check out the full TV commercial HERE.
With the help of the show's lead costume designer, Amy Parris, the campaign puts Tide's boosted formula to the ultimate stain-fighting test. Tide revived the costumes by delivering a superior clean with brighter brights, whiter whites, and a longer-lasting fresh scent that only Tide can.
"People think the magic is only in the design, but it's also in the clean. On set, costumes go through it all – they're stained, cleaned, and need to be camera-ready again in hours. That's why I use Tide's boosted formula because it delivers a powerful clean that is a breakthrough for on set tough stains," says Parris.
When will Stranger Things 5 premiere on Netflix?
Stranger Things 5 will release on Netflix across three premiere dates with Volume 1 Now Playing, Volume 2 on Christmas (three episodes) and The Finale on New Year's Eve. Each volume releases at 5 PM PT. For additional information on when Stranger Things 5 releases in your time zone, please visit WhenIsStranger.com.
Why did Tide team up with Netflix's Stranger Things?
Tide is no stranger to stains - or to Stranger Things - having been part of the show's story from the very beginning - appearing in its iconic 1980s packaging in Season 1, Episode 2. The inherently messy moments within the Stranger Things world made for the perfect opportunity to put Tide's boosted formula to the test, washing away the toughest, most memorable stains.
How does Tide's partnership connect to the Stranger Things' story?
With Season 5 set in 1987 - the same year Tide launched its iconic "Letters to Tide" campaign - the partnership celebrates the nostalgia of this shared moment in time. Tide and Stranger Things reimagined the beloved campaign, envisioning what it might look like if Hawkins' own Karen Wheeler, played by Cara Buono, had written one of those heartfelt letters herself. From 1987 to 2025, Tide is no stranger to stains.
Did the Stranger Things costume team use Tide on set, and what were the results?
To showcase the power behind the boosted formula, Tide teamed up with Stranger Things' lead costume designer, Amy Parris, to put the detergent to the ultimate test on set. After costumes were drenched in goo, grease, and other memorable messes, Parris used Tide to bring every piece back to life.
"Stranger Things is all about memorable iconic outfits and stain-induced scenes. We recreated the show's most iconic costumes like Eleven's pink dress and Dustin's ‘Camp Know Where tee' and put them through serious messes - from Demogorgon goo to pizza grease - and Tide brought every piece back to life with a visibly superior clean," says Parris.
How did Tide perform against Stranger Things' stains?
Tide's boosted formula features 25% more grease and stain-fighting power and 40% more non-ionic surfactants to tackle body soils and odors, making it the ideal product for tough, set in stains like Demogorgon goo. Tide's new formula was specifically designed to work across all fabric types, machine types, and wash temperatures, delivering a certainty of clean that meets modern laundry needs for all your messy moments, even in the Stranger Things' world.
"Our team is constantly innovating to meet the needs of today's laundry, and give consumers the clean they deserve," said Jennifer Ahoni, Principal Scientist at Tide. "With this new formula, we're delivering breakthrough odor and stain fighting technology that fights even the toughest of stains, like grease, keeping clothes looking and smelling their best, load after load."
Why did Tide create a boosted formula for its Original Liquid Detergent?
"We are always pushing ourselves to deliver superior products to meet consumer needs and the ever-evolving laundry landscape," said Alex Perez, Procter & Gamble's Vice President for North America Laundry at Tide. "We were able to bring this boosted formula from prototype to market in just a year because of our ongoing innovation done behind the scenes. We're excited to launch this boosted formula to Tide Original Liquid Detergent, which is available at the same price, ensuring customers get the best product without added cost."
Where can I find more information on Tide's boosted formula?
Visit Tide.com to learn more about Tide's upgraded formula and superior clean.
Follow Tide on TikTok and Instagram (@TideLaundry) for more details on the Stranger Things partnership as well as cleaning tips, product updates, and stories from Tide's innovation journey.
About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit https://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. For other P&G news, visit us at https://www.pg.com/news.
About Stranger Things
A love letter to the ‘80s classic genre films that captivated a generation, Stranger Things is a thrilling drama set in the seemingly normal Midwestern town of Hawkins, Indiana. After a boy vanishes into thin air, his close-knit group of friends and family search for answers and are pulled into a high-stakes and deadly series of events. Beneath the surface of their ordinary town lurks an extraordinary supernatural mystery, along with top-secret government experiments and a dangerous gateway that connects our world to a powerful yet sinister realm. Friendships will be tested and lives will be altered as what they discover will change Hawkins and possibly the world — forever.
Created by The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things debuted in 2016 and quickly became one of Netflix's most popular television series ever, with its fourth season alone amassing over 140.7M views globally. Rooted in ‘80s nostalgia, it boosted Kate Bush's track "Running Up That Hill" into the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in its 38-year history. The series has also garnered over 70 awards worldwide including Emmys® and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and has been nominated for over 230 awards. The highly anticipated fifth and final season will release later this year in three volumes at 5PM PT: four episodes on November 26, three episodes on Christmas and The Finale on New Year's Eve. The beloved franchise offers fans various ways to engage with the cultural phenomenon year-round, including: the Olivier and Tony-award winning stage play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow; a collection of books takes fans deeper into the story; the touring Stranger Things: The Experience which recently expanded to Brazil and Australia; Stranger Things: Escape the Dark; a brand new immersive experience set to open at Netflix House later this year; Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85, an animated series that will take fans back to Hawkins in 2026; fans celebrate November 6 — the day Will Byers went missing — as ‘Stranger Things Day;' and they can follow @StrangerThings.Things
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Aliza Solc
MSL New York
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