- - Netflix Sparks Christmas Fury for Spoiling 2025 Series Finales During NFL Game: ‘Worst Idea Ever’

Erica Gerald MasonDecember 26, 2025 at 7:45 AM

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Photo by DMP on Getty Images

While families across the United States settled in for a festive afternoon of NFL action on Netflix, the streaming giant delivered a gift that many viewers are begging to return. During the Lions-Vikings and Ravens-Texans Christmas Day broadcasts, Netflix aired a polarizing commercial that did the unthinkable: it intentionally spoiled major plot twists and character deaths for its biggest hits of the year.

The advertisement, titled "Spoiled 2025," was designed as a year-end recap, but for many, it felt more like a holiday ambush. The spot flashed images of beloved characters with the word “DIED” emblazoned across their faces, including major reveals for Squid Game Season 3 and Wednesday. It all served as a high-stakes lead-up to the Stranger Things finale, hinting that no one in Hawkins is safe.

The marketing strategy aimed to create a recap of the most talked-about moments from the platform’s titles. However, the timing couldn't have been more controversial. With Stranger Things5 Volume 2 having just dropped on Christmas Day and the series finale set for New Year’s Eve, the ad implied a "Red Wedding" level of carnage for the show's final bow.

See the ad (and the spoilers) below.

The reaction on social media was immediate and scathing. “Might be the worst idea for an advertisement I have ever seen,” one viewer shared on Reddit, echoing a sentiment that quickly gained thousands of upvotes. Althought the ad is currently available on YouTube, a frustrated fan noted the difficulty of avoiding the content: "“Turns out it’s been on YouTube for 9 days. Yeah, where "I have intentionally avoided it. They've been serving it up as a reddit ad too. Terrible concept.”

The frustration stems from the captive audience nature of live sports. Unlike a YouTube video where a viewer can choose to click away, the NFL broadcast left fans with nowhere to run. “I really don't know what they're going for here,” another commenter wrote. “The people who haven't seen these shows will likely be annoyed, and it's probably not going to encourage them to watch—and anyone who has seen these shows won't care. But, I guess we're all talking about Netflix at the moment, so maybe that was the goal. No such thing as bad press and all that.”

Some viewers took a more cynical, psychological approach to the blunder. “It may seem counterintuitive, but multiple psychological studies suggest that some people often enjoy stories more after being spoiled,” one user observed. “However, one study found it comes down to cognition: people who like thinking about stories dislike spoilers, while those who don't actually enjoy them. I guess Netflix is banking on viewers who keep their brains turned off. And honestly, that's probably a fair assumption.”

While the ad successfully dominated the conversation during one of the biggest TV windows of the year, it may have cost the streamer some goodwill. By showing characters with “DIED” next to their pictures, the ad gave away the ending of Squid Game and the fate of key heroes in Adolescence.

“They spoiled several of their other original shows that many people haven’t yet watched and now probably won’t. Pretty dumb,” a viewer remarked, adding that while it achieved the goal of getting people to talk, they are “probably all just gonna be saying how bad of a decision it was.”

As fans prepare for the Stranger Things series finale on December 31, a sense of bitterness remains for those who weren't caught up on their watchlists. Some fans even poked fun at the streamer’s reputation for canceling projects, with one joking, "Don't worry we'll cancel it next season anyway."

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This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”