Tuesday, 9 February 2021

An Ad Tricked Fans Into Thinking Netflix Canceled Cobra Kai

Cobra Kai has recently taken the entertainment world by storm. Cobra Kai was originally released on Youtube Red. The show was acquired by Netflix in June 2020 after Youtube declined to renew it for season 3. Season 3 was released on Netflix on January 1, 2021. The show has recently catapulted to the top of the Nielsen Top 10, meaning it has the most streamed minutes of any show on any platform.

Anticipation for Season 4 grew among fans after season 3, which only ran for ten episodes. The Delite ran an ad, however, that made fans fear Netflix had cancelled the show before the fourth season.


The Ad Was Debunked

Johnny Lawrence at Cobra Kai

YouTubeJohnny Lawrence (William Zabka) teaches his students at Cobra Kai.

Thankfully for Cobra Kai fans, Snopes.com revealed the ad was not true.

They say “the startling ad was headlined ‘Netflix Cancellations: Effective Immediately’ and featured a picture of actor Ralph Macchio, who portrayed Daniel LaRusso in the original ‘Karate Kid’ films as well as ‘Cobra Kai.’ On the left was William Zabka, who also returned as Johnny Lawrence.”

Snopes continues “Readers who clicked on the ad were led to a lengthy slideshow story on the website The Delite which, despite the headline promise of a list of ‘Netflix cancellations,’ was also about show renewals. The ad and story were basically a bait-and-switch.”

This was not the first time Snopes.com proved an ad to be untrue. On their website they have a paragraph describing their goals as a website.

Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It’s called advertising “arbitrage.” The advertiser’s goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow’s pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it.


‘Cobra Kai’ Has Already Been Renewed for a Fourth Season

William Zabka and Ralph Macchio

Getty“Cobra Kai” stars William Zabka and Ralph Macchio strike a pose together during the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.

According to Variety, Netflix renewed Cobra Kai for a fourth season back in October. There is not a release date yet, but one of the show’s creators, Jon Hurwitz, gave a hint on Twitter about when it may be out.

Even though Netflix only renewed Cobra Kai for season 4 so far, Ralph Macchio teased the show could go much further into the future. Movieweb has a quote from Macchio, who is also an executive producer, describing plans for the future of the show.

“The writers have always felt they had six seasons in their head, where the story arcs can go. So that should all land when the time is right. You don’t want to overstay your welcome, but the fans are having fun and there’s more story there. As long as we’re allowed to keep doing it, Billy and I are in.”


What Does Season 4 Have in Store

John Kreese and Terry Silver

YouTubeJohn Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) talk about the future of Cobra Kai in “The Karate Kid Part III”

The end of Cobra Kai season 3 revealed where the plot of the show may go in the future. In the last episode of season 3 John Kreese, sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo makes a phone call. He says “Hey, long time.” It is widely speculated Kreese called Terry Silver, his old war friend, and antagonist in The Karate Kid Part III.

READ NEXT: How ‘Cobra Kai’ Stacks up to Its Netflix Competition


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