Grab your scrunchies and tube socks because Gatorade is going full-on ‘80s in collaboration with Stranger Things ahead of its fifth and final season. The collab — complete with the return of the discontinued Citrus Cooler flavor and two vintage-inspired merch capsules — perfectly captures the retro Hawkins vibe full of neon, nostalgia, and the supernatural Upside Down.
Stranger Things and Gatorade’s No Ordinary Athlete campaign is a twist on the iconic No Ordinary Thirst Quencher Gatorade campaign from 1987, renamed to fuel our favorite characters and fans of the Upside Down as they prepare for the battles of the final season that will drop in three parts: the first four episodes on Nov. 26, then episodes five through seven on Dec. 25, and the series finale on Dec. 31.
For many fans, the main excitement with this collab is the return of Citrus Cooler — a discontinued Gatorade flavor from the ‘80s that’s been in high demand for years. The vintage flavor, described as a mix of tangerine and orange, is available at retailers nationwide coming in limited-edition bottles featuring six collectible designs — one for each of the main characters: Eleven, Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, and an Upside Down edition.
Of course, no good crossover is complete without merch, and the limited edition flavor isn’t all to this iconic partnership. Gatorade will also drop two merch capsules — the 1987 Hawkins Capsule and the Upside Down Capsule — featuring vintage apparel and ‘80s-style Gatorade towels, available for a limited time.
The announcement definitely didn’t come out of nowhere. In fact, Gatorade has been teasing the collab on their Instagram over the last week. First came a retro-style reel captioned, “Code Red. Something’s Coming,” which shows an athlete drinking Gatorade from an old-school glass bottle until his radio is taken over by eerie static in true Stranger Things fashion. A few fans quickly caught on to the hints, one commenting “Stranger things crossover???”
The next day, Gatorade and The Buffalo Bills shared a joint post captioned, “Something strange in Buffalo…” In it, the football field cracks open into what looks like the Upside Down. Their usual profile photo has been turned upside down along with their bio in a flipped font reading “no ordinary thirst quencher.”
Season 5 of Stranger Things seriously can’t come soon enough, but luckily we’re officially counting down the days — and what better to wash the popcorn down with than Citrus Cooler?