You only need to have watched one episode of Black Mirror in order to understand the latest stunt that Netflix is pulling with fans. Inspired by the series’ Season 6 kick-off episode “Joan is Awful,” the streamer decided to bring fake streaming platform Streamberry to life in order to emulate the parody platform that is showcased throughout the story.
In the episode, Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek) plays the title character, a woman who is pretty mean to those around her but is hardly ever called out on it. Her life changes when a new series called Joan Is Awful debuts on Streamberry, and she quickly discovers that the series is based on her life and Salma Hayek (Magic Mike’s Last Dance) plays her onscreen persona. The worst part is, all of Joan’s secrets start to get exposed throughout the series’ episodes.
Now, Netflix is reproducing the experience of Joan in an online platform. Just like her, you get to have your own [Your Name] Is Awful. All you need to do is enter the Streamberry online platform, upload a photo of you, read the terms and conditions – if you watched the episode, you know how important that part is – and then a landing page with your series will come to life, and you’re the star of it! Unlike Joan in the series, however, you have an opt-out clause if you decide you don’t want to be a part of the Streamberry experience anymore.
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Your Streamberry Series May Be Part of An Ambitious Netflix Marketing Campaign
The terms and conditions from Streamberry have a clause that grants Netflix authorization to use your name and image in promotional campaigns, which suggests the streamer might promote Black Mirror using random images of ordinary people. At the same time, the whole thing is a bit scary – and on brand with Black Mirror – because after you watch "Joan is Awful," chances are you’ll feel at least a little bit scared to say you agree to terms and conditions from any platform.
Like most episodes of Black Mirror, "Joan is Awful" brings front and center the conversation of how technology shaped modern society for the better and sometimes much, much worse. The season starter touches on the subjects of deepfake videos, identity, privacy and how TV shows and movies tend to play up reality for dramatic effect.
You can create your own [Your Name] is Awful (at your own risk) on the Streamberry website. You can also stream all episodes of Black Mirror on Netflix.
