In 2022, the U.S. saw an unprecedented number of attacks on the LGBTQ community and attempts to ban or restrict public drag performances. As a leading TV streaming service in the U.S., Hulu saw an opportunity to stand with the community and defiantly show our support for drag performers by creating a unique one-hour variety show featuring 5 original songs, crafted for the unique voices of our drag talent.

These songs aimed to ignite the passions of the LGBTQ community and drag fandom - and in doing so, create meaningful promotional content for our annual Huluween event, which celebrates Halloween-themed TV and movies during October. Anchoring Dragstravaganza in this tentpole meant championing an underserved audience during one of Hulu’s most-watched and visible campaigns.

The music had to feel authentically drag - which meant it had to be funny, entertaining, push boundaries, and above-all-else it had to be fabulous.

Drag queens are known for hilariously skewering pop culture and delivering uproariously funny stage numbers. We leaned into what drag queens do best and devised 5 original songs covering a multitude of genres - each comically taking on the tropes of the horror TV and movies you might see on Hulu.

We wanted to kick things off with an infinitely sing-along-able opening track drawing on the traditions of Broadway musicals. In one song, we not only listed every horror trope from screaming blondes to bloodthirsty aliens, we also cleverly embedded Huluween Dragstravaganza in the chorus so folks would be singing about Hulu all month long.

The rest of the album included a torch song about an ill-fated love affair with a vampire, a dance pop banger about seriously twisted clout-chasing serial killers, a retro-cabaret number about two aging show-biz mummies, and finally a bubblegum-pop-fantasia closing number featuring the whole cast.

LGBTQ audiences do not want to be pandered to, and they want brands to prove their allyship by meaningfully showing up for them outside of the June Pride month.

Halloween is a beloved holiday for many LGBTQ folks (some even call it “Gay Christmas”) so we anchored this music in Huluween - Hulu’s yearly celebration of everything spooky. By doing so we could show up for this audience at a culturally significant moment with maximum exposure and seamlessly embed our brand’s themes and message into music that fans would be singing all month long.

Creating 5 original songs would also give us reach far beyond the show itself. The music could be strategically teased in a single, and then released as an album to sustain momentum. Featuring the music in all of our social media would help us reach fans where they are most vocal, letting them be our evangelists.

In Huluween Dragstravaganza, legendary drag queens Monét X Change and Ginger Minj are sucked into a magical TV and transported to a dark and dusty netherworld full of artifacts from every horror movie and TV show. To escape, they have to host a hilarious one-hour drag variety show with singing, dancing, and original songs.

Our hosts kick things off with a big opening number that comically skewers all of the classic horror tropes. From there, we turn to a troupe of ten iconic queens and kings for a program of ghoulish delights and the occasional shameless plug for Huluween, Hulu’s annual Halloween celebration of spooky shows and movies. We present a torch song about an ill-fated love affair with a vampire, a dance pop banger about seriously twisted serial killers, a retro-cabaret number about two aging show-biz mummies, and finally a bubblegum-pop-fantasia closing number featuring the whole cast.

At premiere, Huluween Dragstravaganza was the 2nd most watched TV comedy on Hulu. Despite being first-of-its-kind, unknown IP, the campaign garnered $30MM in earned media - which surpassed the performance of similar titles with known IP. Dragstravaganza gave our Huluween campaign a boost in press outlets allowing us to surpass YoY “Huluween” mentions before October even began.

To feel authentic to this community, we had to feature LGBTQ talent both in front of and behind the lens. This came through clearly to our audience as we saw the community come out in droves to show their love, with Dragstravaganza posts exceeding campaign engagement benchmarks by 76%. Overall sentiment was positive, with the community praising Hulu for delivering genuine, high-quality, and inclusive LGTBQ programming outside of Pride month.

The drag fandom got involved as well, expressing their joy and uniqueness through fan art, choreographed dance routines, and their own fabulous drag makeovers.