Remember when that coffee cup showed up in Game of Thrones Season 8 and the entire internet collectively lost its mind? Yeah, well buckle up because Stranger Things just pulled the exact same move and honestly, it might be even worse. We’re talking about a show that has spent FIVE SEASONS obsessing over every single detail of the 1980s.
Like, these people have been meticulous about getting the right kind of soda cans, the correct wallpaper patterns, and authentic arcade games. They’ve name-dropped every 80s movie reference possible and made sure every song on the soundtrack was historically accurate. The Duffer Brothers have built an entire empire on nostalgia done right, creating a world that feels so authentically mid-80s that you can practically smell the Aqua Net hairspray through your screen. Fans have praised this attention to detail for years, celebrating how the show transports them back to childhood or introduces younger viewers to a decade they never experienced. It’s been one of Stranger Things’ defining characteristics, the thing that separates it from other period pieces that phone it in with a few vintage props and call it a day. So when Netflix and the Duffers kept telling everyone they needed over a year for post-production to make sure Season 5 was absolutely perfect, fans trusted them. They waited patiently. They defended the delays. They hyped up the final season as something that would blow everyone away. And then this happened. And now the internet is absolutely roasting them for it, because after all that time and all those promises, they somehow missed one of the most obvious continuity errors imaginable.
The Under Armour Logo That Broke the Internet
So here’s what went down. In Episode 7, there’s this big dramatic moment where Holly Wheeler is escaping from Vecna’s creepy mind prison in the Abyss. It’s supposed to be this intense, emotional scene where she’s finally breaking free. And some eagle-eyed viewer decided to rewatch the scene and noticed something absolutely wild on Holly’s sleeve: an Under Armour logo.
Now, if you’re not immediately getting why this is a problem, let me spell it out for you. Stranger Things Season 5 takes place in 1987. Under Armour wasn’t founded until 1996. That’s NINE YEARS in the future. Holly Wheeler is somehow wearing athletic gear from a company that literally doesn’t exist yet in her timeline.
@SovereignTrades on X was the first to call this out, posting a screenshot showing the logo clear as day on Holly’s sleeve during her escape. The post absolutely exploded, with thousands of fans jumping in to express their shock, confusion, and honestly, a lot of secondhand embarrassment for the show.
I love how Holly in Stranger Things is rocking @UnderArmour founded in 1996 pic.twitter.com/41uNpfYFXd
— Sovereign💎 (@SovereignTrades) December 26, 2025
User @scar1etbegonias had maybe the best reaction, joking that the Under Armour logo was “more unsettling than Vecna” himself and asking if Holly somehow “tore through the fabric of space and time and got into the future” to buy her workout clothes. I mean, that would actually be a better explanation than what actually happened, which is that someone just messed up.
A YEAR of Post-Production and This Still Happened?
Here’s what’s really getting people fired up. The Duffer Brothers and Netflix made a HUGE deal about how much time they needed for post-production on Season 5. We’re talking about over a year of editing, visual effects work, and supposedly checking every single detail to make sure the final season was absolutely flawless.
Writer Julian Cannon put it perfectly: “They took over a year for post-production because of the time they claimed to need for editing and there is a scene of Max being strangled by Vecna where you can see the Under Armour logo of her shirt. Unbelievable.” (Okay, so Julian mixed up which character was wearing the Under Armour gear, but his point still stands and honestly, that mistake is nothing compared to the actual error we’re discussing.)
Like, what were they doing for an entire year if they couldn’t catch a massive brand logo from the wrong decade sitting right there on screen? Did nobody in the editing bay notice? Did the costume department not realize? How many people looked at this footage and just went “yeah, looks good to me” without seeing the glaring anachronism?
User @packalanche pointed out something that makes this even more ridiculous. Stranger Things has been EXCELLENT at product placement in the past. They’ve seamlessly integrated brands like Coca-Cola, Eggo, and tons of other authentic 80s products into the show without it feeling forced or inaccurate. They clearly understand how to handle brand appearances. So how did they completely fumble THIS badly?
Everyone’s Comparing It to Game of Thrones Now
The Game of Thrones comparisons came FAST. @DanDellaCroce straight up said that “stranger things is on the same path” as Game of Thrones Season 8, and honestly? Not a great look for the Duffer Brothers.
Because here’s the thing. Both shows became absolute cultural phenomenons. Both had massive budgets and supposedly top-tier production values. Both promised their fans epic, satisfying conclusions. And both committed embarrassing continuity errors near the end that made people question whether anyone was actually paying attention anymore.
HBO eventually went back and digitally removed the coffee cup from Game of Thrones after the backlash got intense enough. Netflix will probably do the same thing with this Under Armour logo once the heat gets too hot. But just like with the coffee cup, it’s too late. The screenshots are everywhere. The memes have been made. This is now part of Stranger Things history forever, whether they like it or not.
Could It Be On Purpose? (Spoiler: No)
Look, whenever something like this happens, there’s always that one group of fans trying to make it make sense. “Maybe it’s a clue about time travel!” “Maybe there’s some deeper meaning we’re not seeing!” “Maybe the Abyss exists outside of normal time and that’s why Holly has future clothes!”
Yeah, no. That’s not what’s happening here.
Season 5 has already introduced the Abyss as this whole separate world beyond the Upside Down, which is apparently just a bridge between Earth and this evil dimension. They’ve got enough plot threads to wrap up in the finale without also throwing in time travel mechanics. Plus, with only one episode left, there’s literally no time to explain why Holly’s shirt is from the future and have it actually matter to the story.
The real explanation is way simpler and way less exciting: someone grabbed the wrong costume piece, nobody caught it during filming, nobody caught it during the year-plus of post-production, and now here we are. It’s just a mistake. A really, really obvious mistake that shouldn’t have happened, but a mistake nonetheless.
This Isn’t Even Their First Time Doing This
Plot twist: Stranger Things has actually done this before! Back in Season 3, which is set in summer 1985, there’s a scene where Mike pours M&Ms into Eleven’s hand. One of those M&Ms is red. The problem? Red M&Ms were discontinued in 1976 because of concerns about red dye, and they didn’t come back until 1987.
The difference is that the M&M thing was super subtle. You had to really be looking for it, freeze-frame the scene, and know your candy history to catch that error. Most people never noticed it at all, and the ones who did mostly thought it was funny rather than upsetting.
But a brand logo on someone’s sleeve during a major emotional scene? That’s not subtle. That’s RIGHT THERE. You can see it without even trying. It’s like the difference between accidentally including a modern car in the background of a shot versus having your main character pull out an iPhone in a medieval setting.
Volume 2 Has Way Bigger Problems Anyway
Real talk? The Under Armour logo is actually one of the LEAST problematic things about Volume 2. Fans have been sounding off about way more serious issues with the storytelling, and honestly, those complaints are way more valid than getting mad about a costume error.
Will Byers FINALLY got powers at the end of Volume 1, and everyone was hyped to see him actually be a badass for once after spending literally the entire series as a victim. Instead, Volume 2 immediately nerfs his powers and sidelines him. He gets one cool moment against Vecna and then spends the rest of the time having crying sessions with his mom about how everything is his fault. Like, can this kid catch a break?
The cast has gotten so bloated that nobody gets enough screen time. Holly Wheeler, who was basically a background character before this season, is suddenly the main protagonist getting more focus than Eleven. Speaking of Eleven, her powers have been massively weakened and she’s been pushed to the sidelines in her own show. It’s bizarre.
And don’t even get me started on the pacing. Volume 2 is full of scenes where characters stop in the middle of life-or-death situations to have long emotional conversations. Max literally stops at an escape portal to give Holly a pep talk instead of just RUNNING THROUGH THE PORTAL. Jonathan and Nancy have a whole breakup conversation while trapped in a room filling with deadly goo. Like, maybe save the relationship talk for when you’re not about to die?
There are so many exposition dumps and “here’s our brilliant plan” scenes where characters take turns finishing each other’s sentences. It’s exhausting. The show has lost all sense of urgency because everyone keeps stopping to explain their feelings or draw diagrams of helicopters on whiteboards.
The Finale Better Be GOOD
Netflix is dropping the two-hour series finale on New Year’s Eve, and honestly, it’s got a LOT of work to do. The Under Armour thing is embarrassing, sure, but it’s really just a symbol of the bigger issues plaguing Season 5.
Season 5 has done well with viewership. Volume 1 broke records, and the Rotten Tomatoes score is sitting at 84%, which is pretty solid. So it’s not like the show is failing or anything. But there’s definitely a sense that Stranger Things isn’t going out on the high note everyone hoped for.
Will the finale redeem everything? Can it somehow pull off a miracle and make fans forget about the pacing issues, the bloated cast, the weird choices, and yes, the Under Armour logo? Maybe. But right now, the internet is having way too much fun roasting this mistake to really care what happens in the finale.
At least people watching at home are getting some entertainment value out of this whole situation, even if it’s not the kind of entertainment the Duffer Brothers intended. The Under Armour logo has officially joined the Game of Thrones coffee cup in the TV Hall of Shame, and no amount of digital editing is going to change that now.
