Traffic Cardinal
wrote October 17, 2025
Traffic Cardinal
wrote October 17, 2025
Something shifted by the end of summer. Did you feel it too? It all started in the streaming queues. Then spilled into storefronts and subway ads, only to be followed by TikTok feeds and group chats. Manicures turned black. Playlists got darker – less bubblegum, more cello. Fast food chains started posting cryptic Tim-Burton-esque memes. Even your local supermarket had a Wednesday-themed cupcake display (half sincere, half marketing bait). Today, we'll trace why some gothic girl with pigtails and a deadpan stare was claimed by the algorithm, what clever marketers are doing with this mysterious teen-drama hype, and how you, fellow affiliates, can still act on it before the moment fades. Read on!
Why Wednesday is a Marketer’s Dream
You might think Wednesday is just for teens hunting for their next role model. A gloomy girl with attitude. Freaky family. A sentient hand for a sidekick. Superpowers. Dressed like she’s allergic to colour (which isn’t even an exaggeration). Surely that’s niche, right? Well, not quite.
Back in the day – 2022, ancient history by internet standards – Season 1 went nuclear. Blew past 252 million views and crowned itself Netflix’s most-streamed show ever. Season 2 didn’t hit the same numbers (102 million so far), but still came out swinging: record-breaking week one, #1 in 91 countries. So no, it’s not just for teens who binge watch shows in their dark bedrooms. The fandom stretches like a spiderweb across continents and there are Reddit threads, Twitter memes and Wikipedia rabbit holes to prove it. Whatever genre it started in (Edgar Poe’s fever dream?), it’s long gone. Now it’s mainstream, living rent-free in everyone’s aesthetic.
And Netflix knows it. Episodes rolled out in two waves: August warmed things up, September sealed the deal. If that’s not perfectly timed to warm up audiences for Halloween, we don’t know what is. They basically created a mood board for October. For marketers and affiliates, it’s a half-built funnel. The fans are already hooked, they wait for plot twists holding their breath and itch to live out the vibe in real life. The usual symptoms here are sudden craving for impulse buys. Like what? New outfits and moody makeup to stun classmates with your post-summer transformation. Home decor upgrades worthy of Morticia Addams. Maybe even a typewriter to awaken your inner novelist or a double bass for late-night brooding. The wishlist is written. All that’s left is to monetize it.
Brand Collabs: Gothic Goes Viral
Collaborations with brands (especially, unexpected ones) are the perfect marketing “crossover”. New audiences get curious and longtime fans are presented with the opportunity to smuggle pieces of a fictional world into real life.
Before we pass over to the brand collabs, credit where it’s due: Netflix knows how to hustle its own merch. They’ve been monetizing their top shops for a long time, and Wednesday is not an exception. You can find a full immersion kit on their website. Moody tees with quotes like “I don’t do tears”. Ouija boards for chatting with the dearly departed… Yes, really! If you are not quite ready to summon spirits – opt for gentler board games like Yahtzee or Clue.
Wendy’s
One of the loudest collabs in the lineup is a themed drop from fast-food chain Wendy’s. Fun fact: apart from burgers, this brand is also known for their razor-sharp tone of voice and Twitter snark (usually aimed at McDonald’s). And this time, Wendy’s took things beyond social media roasts.
As a way to mock and wink at the iconic Happy Meal, they launched the Meal of Misfortune. But here is the part that really cracked us up: it comes with the tagline: “There’s nothing happy about this meal”. Anyone familiar with the eternal fast-food feud clocked the easter egg instantly. Besides, the whole setup nails Wednesday’s cold, cutting vibe. No surprise there, considering the girl in Wendy’s own logo already looks like she could be Wednesday’s cousin.
Cheetos
Next up: Cheetos gets a hand from Netflix – literally. In one of the weirdest, most on-brand collabs, Thing (the skittering severed hand) became their new “spokeshand.” Cheetos unleashed it on Times Square to smear orange dust (aka cheetle) across taxis, billboards and even a mini Statue of Liberty. A gothic mascot with a snack addiction? Checks out, if you ask us.
Booking
Not diving into Gen Z chaos just yet – Thing doing fintech, Monster High dolls, makeup drops… Let’s pause for something sleeker. Booking cast Morticia Addams as their travel muse, because even the queen of gloom needs a break. She swaps her “crypt” for curated escapes, all booked online. Still dramatic and in silk, just with better Wi-Fi.
Nubank
Thing’s got company! In the campaign for Wednesday’s 2nd season, Nubank introduced “Pezinho” (“little foot” in Portuguese). Inspired by Wednesday’s sidekick, Pezinho is a sentient foot with big dreams of becoming an actor. After a string of rejections, he finds fame and financial stability thanks to Nubank’s products. Yes, it’s a financial glow-up story starring a foot. It aired in Brazil and Mexico, Nubank’s two biggest markets.
As for the vibe – definitely skewed young. Surreal comedy, pop culture nods, no patience for clunky banking. Made for Gen Z and millennials, obviously. This co-branding move turned fintech into fanfic and hooked generations raised on memes, mascots and mildly unhinged stories.
NYX
NYX dropped a limited-edition Wednesday makeup collection: color-shifting lip oils, eyeliners, blush and contour palettes, plus a Nevermore Academy eyeshadow set – all designed to help nail that “killer first day” face.
The message: “Blending in isn't our vibe”, for those obsessed with makeup tutorials and identity-as-aesthetic. True to Wednesday’s spirit, the campaign mocks beauty marketing itself and pairs new products with snarly tags like “shocking” and “groundbreaking” (with all the sarcasm those words deserve).
LEGO
LEGO went full goth. Their Wednesday collab features Wednesday and Enid’s dorm room, complete with stained glass windows and minifigs, Morticia’s cottage in all its eerie elegance and Thing’s apartment (because even disembodied hands need a place to crash). Designed for ages 9+, but let’s be honest: it’s ideal for anyone who processes feelings through architecture.
Mattel
Monster High saw Wednesday and said: “Finally, someone gloomier than us”. After season one, Mattel released Wednesday and Enid dolls with their signature outfits, thrilling collectors and cosplay kids alike.
This year, Bianca joins the mix and brings siren energy and serious shelf presence. If you think they are just dolls – they are not. They are tiny tributes to teen drama and supernatural flair, already earning tangible money through this collab.
Influencers and Affiliates: Selling Aesthetic through Links
The Wednesday wave went beyond inspiring fan art and reaction videos. There is strong reason to believe that it rewired the entire creator economy. Influencers and affiliates saw the aesthetic, read the room and got to work.
TikTok flooded with Wednesday makeup tutorials: smoky lids, pale skin and unbothered but flawless lip combos (of course, with product list included).
Instagram followed suit and served up photo grids of ready-made Wednesday looks (both goth-lite and eerily accurate), coupled with captions mixing tutorial and sales pitch.
On YouTube Shorts, creators reassembled Wednesday’s outfits piece by piece and linked every pleated skirt and platform boot to fast fashion hauls.
Pinterest boards went deeper with inspirational collages and shopping picks to make Wednesday’s wardrobe wearable in real life. Lace collars, Victorian silhouettes and links to everything from thrifted blazers to $300 shoes.
Even home decor got the Addams treatment. Shorts now feature gothic room makeovers: black candles, dead flowers and DIY stained glass spiderwebs.
And for the full transformation, YouTube offers “How to Become Wednesday” lifestyle guides: outfit breakdowns, daily routines (walks, cello practice, avoiding small talk) and meal plans – though let’s be honest, the Addams family didn’t exactly follow recipes unless roadkill counts. There’s even atmospheric background music playlists: melancholic strings, haunted lullabies and the occasional dramatic harpsichord.
Takeaways for Marketers: Fandom as Funnel
By now, it should be obvious: slapping a gothic font on your October email blast won’t be enough. Wednesday infiltrated the world around us. One week it was a show, the next it was a makeup routine, a shopping list and a bedroom moodboard. Marketers who paid attention walked away with a few lessons:
Characters are commerce, they come pre-packaged with their own visual language. If your campaign lacks those elements, you are missing a clickable opportunity.
Fans aren’t waiting for permission, they cosplay, remix, reframe and sell. If you are not building with them, you are building around them.
Campaign timing should orbit release dates instead of holidays. The hype curve doesn’t care about your Q4 calendar – it peaks when the plot thickens.
Halloween isn’t over and the tail end of the spooky season is still monetizable. Themed promos, affiliate bundles, influencer collabs… There is room to jump in before it all calcifies into nostalgia.
Spotting the Next Wednesday: How to Catch the Trend Early
This isn’t a one-off. The Matrix, Harry Potter, Twilight, Harley Quinn – every few years, a character slips through the screen and lands in your shopping cart.
The pattern repeats, the packaging changes. Marketers who treat it like lightning in a bottle miss the fact that the bottle has always been there.
Here’s what to watch for:
Streaming release dates flirting with seasonal events. Does a show drop near Halloween, Valentine’s or back-to-school? Then assume someone is already designing themed merch.
Strong visual identity (costumes, makeup, decor) – if fans can wear it, paint it or decorate with it, they will. And they’ll want links.
Fandoms with high engagement. What do they look like? The comments section of every show-related video or post reads like a group chat and fan art drops before episode two.
Early influencer buzz or teaser campaigns. Noticed something like this before the premiere? That means the affiliate window is already cracked open.
To sum it all up: build your own pop culture radar and prep campaigns 2-3 months ahead, not two weeks after the hype peaks.
Conclusion
Wednesday didn’t ask to be a case study in monetization. It just became one. Fans built the mood, creators sold it and brands scrambled to catch up. The lesson isn’t to watch for trends, but rather to be ready when they hit. Less reacting, more radar. And maybe, just maybe, fewer gothic fonts.
