Okay, so remember literally a few days ago when the entire internet was losing its collective mind over that Under Armour logo in Stranger Things Season 5?
The one that made absolutely ZERO sense because the show takes place in 1987 but Under Armour wasn’t even a company until 1996? Yeah, THAT disaster. Well, Netflix just did what HBO did with the Game of Thrones coffee cup and quietly went back and FIXED IT. No announcement. No acknowledgment. No “oops, our bad.” They just… edited it out and hoped nobody would notice.
Except we DEFINITELY noticed because people are still watching these episodes and suddenly the logo that was causing all the drama is just… gone. Poof. Disappeared. Like it never existed in the first place. Which is honestly both impressive and kind of hilarious because Netflix really thought they could just stealth-edit their way out of this controversy without anyone saying anything. The whole situation is wild when you think about it.
We live in this weird era where streaming services can literally go back and change things after they’ve been released. It’s like they have a time machine for fixing their mistakes, which broadcast TV and DVD releases never had. You mess up on broadcast television? Too bad, that’s there forever. But streaming platforms can just swap out files and pretend the error never happened. Except the internet never forgets, and screenshots are forever, so even though Netflix fixed the actual episode, the original mistake has already been immortalized in memes, articles, and social media posts that will exist until the end of time.
The Under Armour logo has secured its place in TV history right next to that Game of Thrones coffee cup, and no amount of digital editing is going to change that. But let’s talk about what actually happened here because the whole timeline is kind of fascinating.
Netflix Dropped a New Version With NO Warning
So here’s what went down. After days of people absolutely ROASTING Stranger Things on social media for the Under Armour mistake, Netflix just quietly replaced Episode 7 with a new version. No press release. No Twitter announcement. No “hey guys, we fixed that thing you were all mad about.” They just swapped the files.
☆ ru | nɹ ☆ ST5 SPOILERS (@ruthbaderog) took to X and confirmed it was removed, while also sharing the original mistake, “I just went back and rewatch and it’s been edited out.”
I just went back and rewatch and it’s been edited out https://t.co/jKnPyktFZx
— ☆ ru | nɹ ☆ ST5 SPOILERS (@ruthbaderog) December 29, 2025
If you go watch Episode 7 right now, Holly’s escape scene from Vecna’s lair no longer has that anachronistic Under Armour logo on her sleeve. It’s been digitally removed, and honestly? The edit looks pretty clean. You can’t really tell they took anything out unless you’re specifically looking for where the logo used to be.
This is EXACTLY what HBO did with the Game of Thrones coffee cup back in Season 8. They just quietly edited it out of the streaming version and moved on with their lives. No mea culpa, no acknowledgment that millions of people had already seen the mistake. Just a silent fix and hope everyone stops talking about it.
The strategy makes sense from a PR perspective, I guess? Why draw MORE attention to your mistake by announcing that you’re fixing it? Just fix it quietly and let the conversation die down naturally. But also, it’s kind of funny that these massive streaming companies think we won’t notice when they stealth-edit their content.
How This Whole Mess Started
Okay, so for anyone who somehow missed the original drama, here’s what happened. X user @SovereignTrades was watching Episode 7 and spotted an Under Armour logo CLEAR AS DAY on Holly Wheeler’s sleeve while she’s escaping from Vecna’s prison in the Abyss. They posted a screenshot, and the internet EXPLODED.
I love how Holly in Stranger Things is rocking @UnderArmour founded in 1996 pic.twitter.com/41uNpfYFXd
— Sovereign💎 (@SovereignTrades) December 26, 2025
People were SHOOK. Like, Stranger Things is supposed to be this super detail-oriented show that gets everything about the 1980s exactly right. They obsess over what kind of soda cans appear in scenes and make sure all the music is period-accurate. And then they just… have a character wearing a brand that won’t exist for another nine years? Make it make sense!
User @scar1etbegonias had maybe the best take, joking that the Under Armour logo was “more unsettling than Vecna” and asking if Holly had somehow “tore through the fabric of space and time and got into the future.” Honestly, that would have been a better explanation than “oops, the costume department messed up.”
Writer Julian Cannon was FURIOUS about it, tweeting about how Netflix took over a year for post-production and STILL let this slip through. (He did mix up which character was wearing the Under Armour shirt, saying it was Max instead of Holly, but his point still stands.)
And of course, everyone immediately started comparing it to the Game of Thrones coffee cup. User @DanDellaCroce literally said “stranger things is on the same path” as Game of Thrones Season 8, which is NOT a comparison you want people making about your show’s final season.
Why This Error Was Such a BIG DEAL
Here’s the thing. Stranger Things has built its ENTIRE BRAND on being authentic to the 1980s. Like, that’s the whole point of the show. Every single detail is supposed to transport you back to 1987 Indiana. The music, the fashion, the technology, the hair, ALL OF IT.
So when you have an obvious modern brand logo just sitting there on screen during an important emotional scene, it completely BREAKS the illusion. You’re watching Holly have this dramatic escape moment and then suddenly you’re like “wait, is that Under Armour?” and boom, you’re not in 1987 anymore. You’re watching actors on a set in 2024 wearing costumes that someone didn’t check carefully enough.
And it’s extra frustrating because the Duffer Brothers made such a big deal about needing over a YEAR for post-production. They kept talking about how much time they needed to make everything perfect. And then THIS happens? After a YEAR of editing and quality control? How does nobody catch a massive brand logo that shouldn’t exist yet?
It just makes you wonder what else they missed if something this obvious slipped through.
This Wasn’t Even Their First Time
Plot twist: this isn’t the first time Stranger Things has included products that didn’t exist yet in their timeline. Back in Season 3 (which takes place in summer 1985), there’s a scene where Mike gives Eleven M&Ms and one of them is RED.
The problem? Red M&Ms were discontinued in 1976 and didn’t come back until 1987. So technically that was also wrong.
BUT, and this is important, that mistake was WAY more subtle. You had to really be looking to notice a single red M&M. Most people never caught it, and the ones who did thought it was kind of funny more than anything.
The Under Armour logo though? That was RIGHT THERE. On someone’s sleeve. During an extended scene. Impossible to miss once you knew about it. Plus, Season 3 came out when everyone still loved Stranger Things and was willing to overlook minor mistakes. Season 5 is getting way more criticism for pacing and storytelling issues, so people are less forgiving.
Volume 2 Has WAY Bigger Problems Anyway
Real talk? The Under Armour logo is actually the LEAST of Volume 2’s problems. Like, yes, it’s embarrassing and it shouldn’t have happened, but the actual STORY issues are way more concerning.
Will Byers FINALLY got powers at the end of Volume 1 and everyone was SO HYPED to see him actually do something after being the victim for literally the entire series. And what does Volume 2 do? Immediately takes away his powers and makes him have crying sessions with his mom about guilt. COME ON.
The cast is so bloated now that nobody gets enough screen time. Holly Wheeler is somehow the main character now even though she was barely in previous seasons. Meanwhile Eleven, who’s supposed to be the STAR of the show, is totally sidelined with nerfed powers.
And don’t even get me started on the pacing. There are SO MANY 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 chat with Holly instead of just running through it immediately. Why are we prioritizing dialogue over action when the world is literally ending?
The Under Armour thing went viral because it’s easy to screenshot and share, but the real problems with Volume 2 are way more fundamental than a costume error.
What This Means for Streaming
The fact that Netflix can just go back and fix their mistakes after release is honestly kind of wild. Like, imagine if Game of Thrones was still on broadcast TV when that coffee cup appeared. It would have been there FOREVER. They couldn’t have done anything about it.
But because it was on HBO Max (or whatever they’re calling it now), they could just edit it out. Same with Netflix and this Under Armour situation. They have the power to literally rewrite history.
Except they can’t REALLY rewrite history because we all saw it. The screenshots exist. The articles exist. The memes exist. You can’t put that genie back in the bottle. Netflix fixed the episode, but they can’t fix the fact that this mistake is now part of Stranger Things lore forever.
It’s also kind of weird that they don’t acknowledge these fixes publicly. Like, would it kill them to just say “hey, we caught an error and corrected it”? Instead they do this sneaky silent edit thing and hope nobody notices. Which obviously doesn’t work because we ALWAYS notice.
The Aftermath
So what now? Well, Netflix fixed the episode, which is good. Future viewers won’t see the Under Armour logo and get confused about why Holly is wearing clothes from the future. But everyone who watched it in the first few days will remember. The mistake is documented. It’s in TV history books now alongside the Game of Thrones coffee cup.
And honestly, it’s probably not going to affect the show’s success that much. Season 5 is still breaking viewership records. Most people aren’t as obsessed with continuity errors as the hardcore fans who spotted this in the first place. Casual viewers probably never even noticed the logo.
But for the detail-oriented fans who have spent YEARS praising Stranger Things for its period accuracy? This stings. It feels like the show stopped caring as much about the things that made it special in the first place.
The series finale drops on New Year’s Eve, and hopefully THAT won’t have any modern brand logos showing up in 1987. Because at this point, people are going to be looking for mistakes. The scrutiny is going to be INTENSE. Netflix better triple-check every single frame before that episode goes live.
Otherwise, we’re going to be having this conversation all over again.
