Netflix announced yesterday that they are teaming with Popcorn Indiana to sell bagged, pre-popped and flavored popcorn. The bags will retail for $4.49 (that’s for an 8 oz bag) and will sell in brick-and-mortar stores. The popcorn comes in two flavors so far — Cult Classic Cheddar Kettle and Swoonworthy Cinnamon Kettle. It seems safe to assume that the cheddar flavor will be pretty much the same as the Veldt Cheddar flavor that Popcorn Indiana made for Netflix’s Rebel Moon movies. That popcorn was available in Walmart stores, along with a handful of other exclusive Rebel Moon merchandise.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Maybe you can buy it up and eat it along with the Ben & Jerry’s Netflix & Chill’d ice cream.
A “movie night and popcorn go together like a hot dog and a bun, ice cream and sprinkles, or a beach day and a lounge chair,” Netflix said in a statement (via Variety). “That’s why Netflix and Popcorn Indiana have teamed up to debut Now Popping, a new ready-to-eat popcorn line available to snack on now.”
Even if you ignore the extant Rebel Moon bags, it seems likely Netflix will use the popcorn as a way to advertise some of their higher-profile projects by placing movies and TV shows on the bag art, where they will sit in chip aisles and be tiny billboards in the same way companies like Doritos do.
In addition to the Ben & Jerry’s partnership, Netflix has been slowly creeping into more and more physical spaces. They have toys and other merchandise branded with the Netflix “N” at retailers like Target and Walmart, and have recently announced plans for Netflix House, a pair of huge entertainment complexes to be constructed at abandoned department stores. The streamer also owns three movie theaters, although that seems to be a fairly small and niche part of their business, more about the prestige of getting theatrical screenings for some awards contenders than anything else.
Popcorn is a pretty obvious area for a movie studio and streamer to expand out to. In fact, AMC Theatres has their own branded popcorn, and it was one of the earliest products offered by Newman’s Own, the company owned by legendary actor Paul Newman, due in part to its connection to the movies.
