Netflix rewards stranded Newfoundlander for binge-watching movies

Would you spend 24 hours stranded on a snowy highway for five years’ worth of free Netflix? Matthew Woodland may not have made that deal, but now he’ll be streaming as many movies and shows as he likes.

According to CBC News, it all started when Woodland was driving his transport truck to St. John’s on Monday to pick up a load of fuel. Before he knew it, he was stranded on a highway in Newfoundland by a blizzard that hit parts of the province on Monday afternoon, leaving behind up to 69 centimetres of snow.

Woodland told CBC News that snow drifts as high as 12 feet formed around his truck by Tuesday morning. Fortunately, he had a day’s supply of food and some movies downloaded from Netflix to help him pass the time.

Several other motorists were also stranded on the same highway overnight. All of them, including Woodland, were escorted off the highway on Tuesday afternoon by snowclearing crews.

Later that night, Woodland got quite a surprise when he saw a tweet by Netflix Canada, who had heard about his ordeal after seeing the CBC News story.

“Help us find this man! He’s our hero and we need to send him all the warm things,” Netflix Canada tweeted, along with a link to a news interview with Woodland.

The reply, from a Twitter account Woodland apparently created specifically to get in touch with Netflix, simply read: “You found me.”

For his troubles in the snow, Woodland was offered a five-year Netflix subscription — for free!

Woodland and Netflix Canada did not immediately reply to a request for comment.