After the first episode of “Black Mirror” Season 6 went viral for poking fun at Netflix, the streamer is now joining in on the joke. Netflix launched two websites based on “Streamberry,” the fake streaming service from the satirical anthology series.
Netflix created Streamberry.tv, an exact copy of the fictional platform that features characters from the show. The streaming giant also launched youareawful.com, where users can upload their own photos to become the subject of a Streamberry show.
Streamberry was featured in the first episode of “Black Mirror,” where Joan, a jaded employee at a tech company played by Annie Murphy, discovers her life is being replicated in a new TV show called “Joan is Awful,” starring Salma Hayek. The parody streaming service looks exactly like Netflix, including the same user interface and the classic “Tudum” intro noise.
(Spoilers below.)
The new promotional website, streamberry.tv, allows users to envision the streaming service, which has title cards featuring characters from previous seasons, such as pop star Ashley O (played by Miley Cyrus) and singing competition contestant Bing (Daniel Kaluuya). When users click on the titles, they are directed to the corresponding Netflix episode.
Fans of the series can also go to youareawful.com to “sign up” for the service. They’re prompted to enter their name and profile photo, generating a poster of the user as the star of the next installment of the “Is Awful” universe.
However, just like the “Black Mirror” episode, it’s important to read the fine print. Before submitting a selfie, the website notes that the photo “may end up on a billboard,” and users must consent to “Netflix’s use of my image for its marketing campaign.” Netflix also has a link to the Terms and Conditions document.
This is a nod to a scene from the episode where Joan’s lawyer tells her that when she signed up for Streamberry, she signed away the rights to her digital likeness. Streamberry monitors its users through their personal devices, allowing the streamer to produce a CGI show about them.
“Joan Is Awful” was arguably the most talked about episode of this season, given the playful poke at Netflix itself, as well as the commentary on AI and the future of streaming.