“We know that people are going to have a lot of opinions and we’re happy to be the platform for that,” she emphasized.

High expectations

Squid Game’s first season was met with overwhelmingly positive opinions—not to mention major awards. But that also puts additional pressure on Season 2 to equal, if not surpass, its predecessor.

To that end, Netflix has been extra-careful with the rollout of new episodes, declining to make them widely available to press. (Golden Globes voters did score an early look, and nominated Season 2 for Best Television Series — Drama before anyone else had seen it.)

For her part, Herran said that Netflix is well-aware of the “high expectations” around Season 2 and it has informed the overall marketing approach, including the WhatsApp ads, which feature only fleeting glimpses of the new season.

“We intentionally focused on ways to celebrate their favorite themes, unforgettable moments, and characters from the show, and we found new ways to fuel their anticipation for Season 2,” she noted.

Looking ahead, Odior hopes to see other Netflix fandoms flocks to WhatsApp to talk about their favorite series. As a self-confessed fan of period romances, she’d be most eager to jump into Bridgerton-based conversations—although she’s also excited for the overdue return of Stranger Things next year. “They’re so grown, oh my gosh,” Odior joked about the show’s now-adult cast.

WhatsApp previously partnered with Netflix to create a Stranger Things sticker pack, which launched with the show’s fourth season in 2022. But don’t expect any special Squid Game emojis to debut as Season 2 gets underway.

“The point of this campaign was not to create a way to talk about Squid Game, but to shine a light on the fact that fans are already going to be doing that,” Odior explained. “We wanted fans to know that we see you and we’re in it with you.”