How we turned phones into 'Stranger Things' Walkie-talkies

There are loads of MVP candidates in Stranger Things. Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, Hopper, the eerie soundtrack. One prop that definitely deserves to be on the ballot is the Realistic TRC-214 walkie-talkie; it does some seriously heavy lifting in the unfolding of the plot. Season 3 of the hit series was about to drop and T-Mobile wanted to leverage their partnership with Netflix without seeming like a dad-dancing brand encroaching on an epic cultural moment. This is the story of how we turned phones into retro 80s walkie-talkies.

Tapping into the outlandish phone case zeitgeist, we created the collaborative accessory to end all collaborative accessories. The T-ALKIE was the first walkie-talkie phone case.

Modeled on the original RadioShack design of the show, the case came with a fully-extendable antenna and had peak coverage across the entire T-Mobile network, including Hawkins. Also compatible in the Upside Down.

Having distributed the coveted cases via competitions on social, we released the T-ALKIE app; a clever piece of software that transformed every smartphone into a functioning walkie-talkie. Here, you could eavesdrop on S3 conversations; hear from Erica Sinclair, the newest addition to the Stranger Things crew or just go old school and talk to friends via a push-to-talk button. Over and out.

Agency: BBH LA

Role: Creative Director / Art Director

Awards: Webby Award 2019 Media & Entertainment