Halloween is creeping up on us once again, and like clockwork, brands are jumping on the spine-chilling bandwagon with their marketing campaigns, products, and stunts, ranging from endearing to interactive to downright bizarre.
Whether you’re in shopping for chocolate, toilet paper, or streaming TV, odds are some of the brands you associate with are capitalizing on tricks and treats this October. Let’s take a look at some.
Airheads: A.I.rheads Scarefest
Airheads, in collaboration with agency Highdive, brings together two Halloween staples: scary movies and candy. They tasked six filmmakers with using artificial intelligence to create short horror films that incorporate the candy brand’s famous red balloon.
The “A.I.rheads Scarefest” shorts merge humor and fright to tell a story in under three minutes. These films can be found on a dedicated website until the end of November. Fans are even encouraged to try their hand at AI filmmaking for a chance to win $2,000 and a year’s supply of Airheads.
Angel Soft: Toilet Paper Mummies
While Americans are poised to spend an average of $37 per person on their Halloween costumes this year, Angel Soft presents an inexpensive alternative – toilet paper mummies. The brand’s animated mascot, Angel, stars in a new animation by Grey New York Psyop.
Additionally, a trio of “celebrity mom-fluencers,” boasting a combined following of over 1.5 million, will participate by mummifying their little ones with toilet paper. Angel Soft is also running a sweepstakes that invites people to post images of friends, relatives, and even pets wrapped up in TP for a chance to win a $500 gift card.
BLK: Halloween Horror Stories – Dating Edition
BLK, a Match Group-owned dating platform for the Black community, delves into the realm of real-life nightmare dates with its campaign titled “Halloween Horror Stories: Dating Edition.” This series of animated short films is inspired by users’ own hair-raising date experiences.
From awkward identity mix-ups to high-speed police chases and potential encounters with accused murderers, these stories can be found on BLK’s YouTube and Instagram pages.
Burger King: Horror Short “The Call”
Burger King is gearing up for Halloween with a creative and spooky campaign that draws inspiration from TikTok horror trends. The fast-food chain, in collaboration with Dentsu Creative, its social media agency, is aiming to resonate with Gen Z by tapping into their fascination with horror and Halloween.
The campaign features a 60-second horror short film directed by Wild Gift director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, known for his work on horror films such as The Town That Dreaded Sundown and TV series like American Horror Story: Coven. The film combines elements of camp and eerie moments, capturing the essence of the season.
The storyline begins with a young woman watching TV alone at home, with a familiar Burger King jingle playing in the background. Suddenly, she receives a creepy phone call from a blocked number, warning her that something is back and coming for her. What follows is a suspenseful and campy horror sequence, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats.
Hulu: Huluween – Now Screaming
From October 29th to October 31st, Hulu is set to transform the Pacific Design Center into a spine-tingling Halloween experience with “HULUWEEN: NOW SCREAMING.” This immersive event promises nonstop scares and the chance to come face to face with some of Hulu’s most terrifying titles, including American Horror Story, Annabelle, The Boogeyman, and more.
Guests are encouraged to enter at their own risk between 4:00 PM and 10:45 PM each day. Reservations can be made via the Fever platform, with admission being completely free. For those who miss out on reservations, a standby line will be available for a chance to participate in the scares.
“HULUWEEN: NOW SCREAMING” will bring six titles from Hulu’s Halloween collection to life through talented costume actors and immersive settings. It’s a must-visit for fans of horror and Halloween looking for a truly chilling and unforgettable experience.
Get ready for the fright of your life, but remember, you never know what’s lurking just around the corner. If you’re brave enough, this Halloween, you’ll find out.
Jack in the Box: Horror Short “Feeding Time”
There are some agencies and brands who talk a good game about being progressive in their approach to branding. But the creative work never quite gets there. Then there are agencies and brands who talk that game, walk that walk and get us there and more. This would be the case with Jack in the Box and its AOR TBWA\Chiat\Day.
Only this time, it’s the agency and brand have us running for our lives!
Crafted by seasoned Hollywood horror writers responsible for hit productions like Servant, Saw, and American Horror Story: 1984, Feeding Time embraces the essence of my favorite time of year, Halloween—spooky scares, eerie costumes, and ghoulish fun. This was a recent Reel Ad of the Week.
REELated:
Lenovo: Mixed Reality Art for Halloween
Lenovo teams up with three digital artists to create custom “mixed reality art” that showcases the brand’s new Yoga Pro 9i laptop, on which these digital works were created. The whimsical series features seasonal urban themes, such as a pipe spewing skulls and pumpkins and a Queens row house being transformed into a jack-o-lantern.
The works are featured on the individual artists’ Instagram pages under the hashtag #LenovoInspired, with additional behind-the-scenes posts explaining how each computer-generated environment was created.
M&M’s: Halloween Rescue Squad
M&M’s is deploying its first-ever “Halloween Rescue Squad” to ensure no home prematurely runs out of candy. With nearly half of Americans worried about depleting their candy stock on Halloween night, M&M’s partnered with food delivery company Gopuff to alleviate those fears. Starting at 3 p.m. ET on October 31, the brand will be dispatching free M&M’s and other Mars Wrigley products to homes, all in under an hour.
Additionally, consumers who spend $15 to $30 on eligible candies before the end of October can upload their receipts for a free three-month subscription to NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service.
Pop-Tarts: Robot Chicken Collaboration
Pop-Tarts, while not traditionally associated with Halloween, gets in on the fun with a campaign tied to Adult Swim’s longest-running show, “Robot Chicken.” A new ad takes place in the stop-motion “Robot Chicken” universe, featuring the brand’s “Agents of Crazy Good” spokes pastries working alongside a mad scientist to create a robotic toaster. This toaster helps them realize “every Pop-Tart’s dream: to be eaten anywhere at any time.” The spot is currently running across TV, YouTube, and social media.
Twix: “More-errr” Halloween Campaign
Ever thought Twix was more than a regular candy bar but struggled to articulate how? The Mars brand plays off that loss for words in two humorous Halloween ads. Created by Mars’ global agency The&Partnership, the ads feature trick-or-treaters’ encounters with vampires and zombies while describing the extra oomph they get out of a Twix bar with the word “more-errr.” The 15-second spots, one of which features Twix’s seasonal “Ghoulish Green” variety, are running across broadcast TV and online video, as well as social media.
Uber Eats: Horror Movie Quote Promo Codes
Uber Eats partnered with Hollywood studios to turn horror movie quotes into Uber Eats promo codes, offering 60% off candy. A new code drops every day until Halloween. The effort is handled by Rethink New York.
This Halloween, brands have pulled out all the stops to spook and delight consumers with a wide range of eerie and entertaining campaigns and activations. From candy and animation to interactive experiences and horror shorts, the 2023 Halloween marketing season is brimming with creativity and ingenuity.
Boo!
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The Ghost Writer is a West Coast-based Scribe who loves to bring the spirit of Halloween to Reel 360 News. Reach him through your local Medium.
