Branded Experiences Will Be There for You
Fresh from the dregs of late capitalism, the branded retail experience is trying to bring theme park wonder to pop culture nostalgia
At 8:30 p.m. on September 22, 1994, NBC premiered Friends, the newest addition to the network’s “must-see TV” lineup. “They’re 20-something; they hang together; they’re wild and crazy and even occasionally funny. But would you hang with them?” asked a fall television preview in the New York Times. It’s a good question — one now posed by a Friends “pop-up experience” celebrating the show’s 25th anniversary. Do you really want to hang with these friends? Physically? In a simulation of their New York-by-way-of-Hollywood stage sets, further mediated by decades of nostalgia, a heavy dose of branding, and the promise of Instagram opportunities? More importantly, did I?
Friends aired its final episode more than 15 years ago, but there’s clearly still money to be made from its 10-season run. Earlier this year, the exclusive streaming rights to the show were reportedly secured by series owner WarnerMedia in a $425 million internal transaction. And now that the company has brought the friends home, it seems more intent than ever to milk them for all they’re worth.
