Vecna may have finally met his match, as the Stranger Things kids have a new ally in the last battle for Hawkins: Gatorade.

In the premiere episode of Stranger Things Season 5, which debuted Nov. 26, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) gears up to face big bad Vecna, and as part of her training routine, she has a glass bottle of Gatorade to refuel her “battery” for the fight. It’s a product placement that takes on greater significance as the show creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, look to bring the ’80s to life.

“The way we work with the Duffer Brothers is, we’re not actively selling placement into the shows themselves,” Magno Herran, vp of brand marketing and partnerships at Netflix, told ADWEEK. “Their view of products in the Stranger Things universe is to really paint a better picture of what the ’80s were like. You’re able to contextualize it much better when you recognize a certain brand that appeared in the ’80s.”

Herran noted that the ’80s feel is pivotal for brands within the show, but it also helps bring the series to life in the real world. For instance, Eleven’s same glass-bottled Gatorades from the show are also returning to select real-life locations. The same goes for Doritos, which appears in the show and also launched a Stranger Pizza x Cool Ranch flavor, complete with retro packaging.

“It became a really creative exercise, thinking about how you extend that one idea that happens in the show very naturally and authentically into the real world and into the hands of the fans,” Herran said.

Heading into the final season, which is rolling out in three installments, with episodes still to come on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Herran said Netflix had no shortage of brands looking to be part of the show’s last run. However, the marketing department worked with the Duffer Brothers and their teams to hone in on the brands and executions that made sense as the campaign rallied around the idea of “one last strange ride.”

In some cases, that was literal, with Netflix hosting immersive Stranger Things bike rides such as the Netflix x CicLAvia: One Last Ride Fan Event. According to Netflix, the event had 50,000 fans on hand to enjoy biking, photo ops, activations, and giveaways from partners such as Doritos, Chips Ahoy, Dum Dums, Gushers, Benetton, Jazwares, Nike, Converse, Displate, and Dr. Squatch.

In other cases, the team had to get creative for brands that weren’t endemic to the show but could still help tell the story. For instances like those, Netflix’s ad tier comes in big, with sponsorship placement putting commercials ahead of the show on the ad-supported plan, where they can lean into ’80s nostalgia and create a more engaging ad experience.

“As you’re about to watch the show itself, you get one of these ’80s ads that brings you immediately into that setting and the characters that you love, and then you go on to watch the show,” Herran said. “It’s been an opportunity for brands to participate and get much closer to the show itself.”

Among some of the marketing highlights, Discover ads featured Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) earning rewards while buying gear to take on the Upside Down. Meanwhile, Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) uses Tide to clean her kids’ clothes of blood and gore.

“When we collaborate with brands, we really get into these sessions where we’re brainstorming together and trying to find the moments that make the most sense. And that was like, ‘Hey, the kids go through a lot of gore and a lot of goo,’ and Tide existed in the ’80s,” Herran said. “You find these unique intersections in it, and then the rest is really about, ‘Can we get the storytelling right to make sure it comes to life?’”

Adding to the challenge for the final season, Netflix is a global brand, and it required campaign executions around the world, which included things like McDonald’s activations in Spain, Portugal, and Brazil, and KFC creating “Hawkins Fried Chicken” in the U.K.

Showcasing how worldwide brands could participate in the final season, Netflix partnered with Deutsche Telekom, a German telco that wasn’t around in the ’80s, to create an ad that feels like a scenario straight out of the show, with the Stranger Things kids trying to watch as many ’80s movies as possible to prepare for facing Vecna.

And the Stranger Things crew couldn’t have one last ride without some brands that had been around since the beginning.

Eggo, for instance, was in the original script long before any brand deals, serving as Eleven’s go-to meal in the first season. The brand is returning once again with a strawberry waffle inspired by the show. Meanwhile, Google, which made character stickers in the first season, came back with a Search scavenger hunt.

Perhaps tying things all together, Netflix teamed with Target, which turned stores into Upside Down experiences while carrying more than 150 items available in-store and online, including Eggo waffles, Kellogg’s cereal, Funko Pops, Scoops Ahoy ice cream, branded apparel, and dozens of collectibles.

“Target existed back then and in present day, and will host the biggest assortment of the consumer products you could buy to celebrate the show,” Herran said. “So again, it’s this idea of finding a very unique opportunity and creative angle for each of the brands.”

And the campaign isn’t slowing down. Herran said viewers can expect some advertising moments on the way in Netflix’s upcoming Christmas NFL games. Plus, Google is rolling out a special surprise on Dec. 25 in honor of the show, which Herran teased that he was “very excited” for.

“When you co-create together, you have a real opportunity to be part of the cultural zeitgeist and move that forward and be something that the fans feel really good about, and that adds value to their viewing experience,” Herran said. “That’s a rare thing to be able to do at this scale, in that many markets, and see the positive response of all the fans.”