Roku City, the purple-hued screen saver that has run on Roku devices since 2017, has become a major branding and cultural touchpoint for the streaming platform, entertaining over 100 million viewers whilst quietly serving as an advertising space for brands, studios and celebrities. Its popularity stems largely from a rotating set of more than 40 hidden pop-culture Easter eggs, which fans obsessively spot and discuss online, turning a simple screen saver into an unexpectedly significant marketing and engagement tool as Roku prepares to become part of Fox Corp in a $22 billion deal next year.

Roku's team, including VP of global brand and creative Damon Van Deusen, can add topical references within hours via an internal "Rapid Response Easter Egg Team." Recent additions include a raccoon nicknamed Jimothy, which generated 12 million social media impressions, and Punch the monkey, another viral internet figure. A 2021 tweet asking "would you live here?" drew 20 million views and prompted Roku to start monitoring public reaction closely, later leading to tributes such as referencing Kim Kardashian's "Not my first rodeo" post on the city's theatre marquee. However, Roku deliberately avoids morbid references, such as the Titanic, following a tragic real-world submarine incident.