Netflix has moved fast to roll out official merchandise for “Squid Game,” in a bid to capitalize on the unexpected success of the Korean survival thriller.
The streamer’s merch for “Squid Game” (at this link) includes T-shirts with the show’s logo and key images from the series ($34.95), a shirt that lets you pick a custom player number ($39.95), and a customizable hoodie that lets you pick a square, triangle or circle icon — which represent the three different guard ranks — along with show logo in English or Korean ($49.95).
“Accept the invitation at your own risk,” the Netflix.shop site says about the new apparel. “If you’re like us and love ‘Squid Game,’ you’ve come to the right place — and the stakes aren’t as high.”
Alas, there are no “Squid Game” player tracksuits or red guard jumpsuits in the Netflix online store. To find those (unofficial) garments, you’ll have to go to Amazon or other third-party ecommerce sites, where “Squid Game” costumes have gone on sale in time for Halloween.
The company launched Netflix.shop this past June, stocked with curated, limited-edition collections aimed at generating buzz for its original productions among superfans. The site also sells products for “Sex Education,” “The Witcher,” “Lupin,” and anime series “Yasuke” and “Eden.” The items in the ecommerce storefront currently are available for purchase only in the U.S.
“Squid Game,” which premiered Sept. 17, has consistently ranked as the No. 1 TV show in countries around the world, according to Netflix. Last week Netflix co-CEO and content chief Ted Sarandos said the show has a very good chance of becoming the streamer’s biggest show ever — and that it will “definitely” rank as the streamer’s most popular non-English original series to date. “We did not see that coming, in terms of its global popularity,” Sarandos said at Vox Media’s Code Conference.
In South Korea, broadband provider SK Broadband has sued Netflix seeking to recoup higher network costs — which it says totaled $23 million in 2020 alone — over a huge surge in traffic from Netflix, citing in part the popularity of “Squid Game.” Netflix has said it is reviewing the lawsuit.
