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

LOS ANGELES — 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

LOS ANGELES — 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 program to date, said Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Marian Lee.

Target stores are selling more than 150 “Stranger Things” products.

David Harbour as Jim Hopper and Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in "Stranger Things" season 5.Courtesy of NetflixMany brands are leaning in to 1980s nostalgia. Gatorade brought back an ‘80s Citrus Cooler flavor, and Walmart is selling a “Stranger Things” collection of Care Bears, one of the hot-selling toys of that era.