WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 4.
Stranger Things season 4’s character Yuri claims that peanut butter was banned in Russia, with the spread being one of his most popular items to smuggle from America. Yuri is an apt continuation of Stranger Things’ Russian characters being fascinated with American culture—whether that be food, activities, or television shows. While Stranger Things season 4’s Yuri has a sweet spot for American peanut butter, season 3’s Russian scientist, Alexei, was fixated on Cherry Slurpees from 7-Eleven.
When Stranger Things season 4 introduces “Enzo”’s Russian smuggler friend Yuri, who carries American goods from his Fish n’ Fry shop in Alaska, the oddball character explains why peanut butter is such a hot commodity for his customers. When adding loads of Jif peanut butter jars onto his airplane, Yuri reveals that peanut butter is banned in the “motherland,” with the crunchy style being his personal favorite. When Hopper briefly escapes Russian prison and arrives at a church where Yuri hides out, he finds numerous jars of Jif peanut butter, which he savors the taste of after being forbidden the food for nine months.
Stranger Things season 4 oddly makes the peanut butter smuggling a significant subplot in Joyce, Murray, and Hopper’s Russian storyline, but the notion that it was actually “banned” in the nation seems to be exaggerated. In reality, it doesn’t seem that Russia ever imposed an official ban on peanut butter, but rather that it was nearly impossible to find in the Soviet Union during the 1980s. Since the United States is the biggest manufacturer of peanut butter, with other countries not having the same obsession with the spread, it’s likely that the Cold War tensions between America and Russia made the product virtually impossible to transport and find in Yuri’s homeland.
Even today, peanut butter is noted as one of the most significant “missing foods” in Russia, where it’s typically only found in high-end markets, health food stores, and major supermarket chains (via SRAS). However, while it’s more accessible now, peanut butter was “nonexistent” in Russia during the 1980s, so Yuri’s successful smuggling of the spread is still grounded in true history. Stranger Things season 4’s peanut butter smuggling may not be due to a real “ban,” but it does connect to the 1980s tensions between the two countries that led to certain embargoes on trade – just not for peanut butter.
The reasons for Stranger Things season 4’s focus on Russia’s lack of peanut butter may not be entirely correct, but at least Yuri’s jar of Jif helped Joyce and Murray escape captivity on his plane. Yuri’s role in Stranger Things season 4’s Russia subplot also seems to elaborate on how Russians perceived Americans during the show’s timeline, as Russian prison guard Dmitri Antonov regards peanut butter, Playboy Magazine, and cigarettes as “the best America has to offer.” It seems that when Hopper arrives back in America, Stranger Things season 4 may complete the subplot by having the character indulge in a jar of peanut butter.
Stranger Things season 4, volume 1 is streaming now on Netflix.
