This collaboration went far beyond traditional ad placements it demanded a fully multidimensional experience, fusing storytelling, technology, and real-world presence into one seamless campaign.

Its centrepiece was Uber’s first-to-market AR game activation, where Uber riders could play an augmented reality version of Red Light, Green Light during their trip. This interactive execution turned the Uber app into a gaming portal, allowing users to step into the Squid Game universe and engage directly with one of the show’s most iconic scenes.

Beyond the AR experience, Squid Game was brought to life through a branded Uber Shuttle experience at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Riders boarding these shuttles were greeted by the series’ Pink Guards. This activation blurred the line between fiction and reality, creating a moment of surprise and delight that extended the brand’s presence into the physical world.

To ensure consistent visibility and reinforce campaign messaging, Netflix also utilised the range of digital formats across Uber’s ad solutions:

• Journey Ads (Static & Video): Showcased Squid Game creative throughout the app, keeping the series top-of-mind during key trip moments.
• First Trip Takeover (FTT): Captured attention by targeting users’ first ride of the day with immersive, full-screen content in a distraction-free environment.
• Post-Checkout Video Ads (Uber Eats): Reached consumers after they completed food orders, engaging them during natural downtime.
• Tablet Ads (JourneyTV): Delivered Squid Game trailers and branded content through in-car screens, creating an additional high-attention touchpoint.

Each activation element was carefully designed to reflect Squid Game’s unique identity and create a cohesive, high-impact, and theatrical campaign worthy of the show.

The amplification strategy focused on delivering content in the right context, to the right users, at the right time –maximising engagement across both Uber Ride and Uber Eats platforms.

Using Uber’s rich historical, contextual, behavioural, and real-time insight, the campaign targeted users based on time of day, trip behaviour, and previous app interactions. This precision ensured that messaging was both timely and relevant, served during moments of heightened attention, such as booking, waiting, or post-checkout. This has been quantified by a third-party, with research Uber conducted with Lumen Research finding ads on the Uber platform deliver 6.6 times more attentive seconds than standard digital formats.

Journey Ads were carefully sequenced throughout the rider experience. Whether users were en route or awaiting their destination, they encountered Squid Game creative that evolved with their journey. The First Trip Takeover ensured high visibility by targeting the day’s earliest app interaction, while post-checkout video placements on Uber Eats extended the narrative into a different use case, reaching eaters in a lean-back mindset.

The AR game was promoted within the app and across digital surfaces, encouraging users to engage directly. Its interactivity sparked organic sharing, with gameplay clips and AR selfies circulating on social media – creating an amplification loop that extended beyond Uber’s ecosystem.

The branded Uber Shuttle experiences added a physical layer of amplification. These activations became live spectacles, with Pink Guards greeting passengers and visually transforming vehicles as they circulated from Hard Rock Stadium. Riders documented their experiences, generating a wave of user-generated content that significantly amplified the campaign’s reach far beyond its immediate scope.

The final amplification layer was in-vehicle tablets (JourneyTV). By delivering trailers and exclusive content in a closed environment, the campaign ensured high dwell time and content completion rates.