The hit “Arrested Development” made waves with its announcement back in 2011 that it would come back, albeit briefly, for one last season on Netflix on May 26, 2013. Since then, the streaming company has done everything in its power to make sure fans know about the show’s return and are just as excited about it as they are. And without commercial air time to promote the comeback, Netflix has resorted to other means. Below, Brief takes a look at some of the best, and strangest, promotional pieces they’ve released since the big announcement.




1. In January 2013, Netflix began teasing the big comeback in the form of Easter eggs found throughout its site. Fake films like “Families With Low Self Esteem” and “Caged Wisdom: Musings From Prison” could be found alongside a user’s recommendations for Dark Suspenseful Movies from the 1970s or Quirky Comedies. Clicking on the fake video option leads you to a clip referencing the work from “Arrested Development’s” first three seasons.

2. Netflix released character posters in April that reflected each personality on the show, but also spoke to its upcoming streaming premiere quite succinctly. Posters including George Bluth Sr. telling you “No touching. Only streaming” and George Michael’s timid “I’ll see you you in May, or whenever is convenient for you.”




3. On May 7, the “Arrested Development” very active Facebook page revealed the winner to its online tagline contest. Fans had one day to respond, and after thousands of submissions, they went with the show-appropriate “We’ve Unmade a Huge Mistake” to accompany its new main poster art. It acknowledges the memorable one-liner from the show as well as its untimely cancellation, which Netflix is only too happy to remedy.




4. Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand went on tour in mid-May first in London, then onto the US, where such stars as Ron Howard, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett manned the booth and handed out bananas to a long line of fans. @ArrestedDev on Twitter gave out the location of the stand each day so people could follow it daily, and the stand worked with food delivery site Seamless.com to market the stand’s offerings, though at a delivery minimum of $250,000, they might not have gotten many orders.

5. One of the strangest, and most confusing if one is not a fan of the show, was when members of the media began receiving emails from David Cross’s character, Tobias Funke, saying “I finally got around to making those new head shots! And now you can insert me anywhere into your YouTube video creations!” And to prove he was serious, a link was included showing his skills.

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