Netflix wants to make kids birthdays on-demand

The SVOD giant is launching a new Birthdays On-Demand feature as it continues to roll out interactive kids content.
September 14, 2017

Netflix is helping kids celebrate their birthdays by giving a gift to their parents. The SVOD giant is launching a new Birthdays On-Demand feature September 16, which offers 15 videos delivering special birthday messages.

The two-minute featurettes see kids’ favorite characters—from brands like Barbie and My Little Pony—sing a birthday message to them. (The messages are generic and not customized to each individual child, but kids may think it’s just for them.) Parents can unlock the Birthday On-Demand content by searching “birthday” on Netflix.

Each video features a different group of characters from Netflix series All Hail King Julien, Barbie, Beat Bugs, Dinotrux, Las Leyendas, LEGO Friends, LEGO Ninjago, Luna Petunia, Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, My Little Pony:Friendship Is Magic, Pokemon, Project Mc2, Skylanders Academy, Trollhunters and Word Party.

Birthdays On-Demand was designed to help parents create a no-stress memorable birthday experience for their little ones in an era where party planning is becoming increasingly taxing for parents. According to a global survey of 14,582 responses conducted by SurveyMonkey for Netflix, 67% of parents say that birthday planning is stressful. And nearly half (44%) of parents feel social-media fueled pressure to throw their kids a huge birthday bash. (Parents were polled in the US, the UK, Philippines, Singapore, India, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Turkey, France, Germany and Italy.)

The launch of Birthdays On-Demand follows Netflix’s recent release of interactive episodes. Launched globally in June, the interactive episodes combine choose-you-own-adventure stories with original Netflix shows, including DreamWorks Animation Television’s Puss in Book, American Greetings Entertainment’s Buddy Thunderstuck and Hasbro Studios’ Stretch Armstrong.

In a blog post, Netflix says the kids space is a natural place to introduce interactive content, because kids are eager to play with characters and want to tap, touch and swipe their screens.

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