With Halloween around the corner, brands are once again capitalizing on the festivities, from Mausoleum pop-up stores to selling garlic-sauce talisman necklaces. Even celebrities such as Keke Palmer and Charlie Puth are participating in this year’s Halloween-themed campaigns.
Here's a look at some of the spookiest strategies.
GM today released its “Scary Better” ad, highlighting innovations being made to Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles, ranging from free enhancements to new upgrades available for purchase.
The 60-second spot is an extension of OnStar/GM's “Better Never Stops” campaign, which aims to educate consumers on how their cars can improve over time through over-the-air software updates.
Characters in the commercial become increasingly spooked after each OnStar software update. “When will it stop getting better?” cries one character, who is met with the response, “It’s never gonna stop."
“Take all you want,” reads Kit Kat’s Halloween-themed candy bowl, which never runs out of candy. The company first unveiled the bowl in Salem, Massachusetts, one of America’s most popular Halloween destinations. The never-ending Kit Kat bowl also appeared in Hershey’s Chocolate World in Times Square in October.
"We prefer more treats than tricks here on the Kit Kat team, so we decided it's time this Halloween season to show what's up our sleeve," said Alex Herzog, associate brand manager of Kit Kat, in a press release.
Sun-Maid’s Halloween celebration this year took place in Helens, Oregon, where the 1998 cult classic “Halloweentown” was filmed. All month long “Raisin Zombies” roam the town and Helen’s holiday décor is adorned with their signature red bonnet.
The raisin brand also replaced all the candy it could find in Helens with Sun-Maid raisins. Sun-Maid’s media team promoted the campaign on social media, including TikTok and Instagram.
Papa Johns launched a garlic sauce talisman necklace for Halloween. The campaign sees Papa Johns resurrect its ‘80s horror film parody series, "Jack!," with the launch of its first-ever piece of jewelry—the Stranger Bling necklace, oxidized in 925 sterling silver, a nod to Netflix's hit "Stranger Things." Spotlighting the inspiration behind the necklace is a new teaser film produced by Glacé Media, released ahead of Halloween.
Highlight PR worked with UK-based silversmith Oli Brown to create the Stranger Bling necklace, and an exclusive pendant is available to buy for $114.
"Jack!" was brought to life by LA-based YouTube film specialists, Skycorp, harnessing CGI and special effects to transform Papa Johns’ seasonal Jack O’Lantern pizza into an on-screen villain. Sean Schemmel, who starred as Goku from "Dragon Ball Z," features as the voice of Jack.
Actress Keke Palmer partnered with Uber Eats to deliver a new horror short, “Don’t Run Out,” with $1 million worth of discount codes hidden in it.
The video sees a trio of friends who, on Halloween night, realize that they’re running low on candy. Palmer’s character explains how one family vanished on Halloween after the same thing happened to them, as she rushes to order more on Uber Eats. The friends all split up, each pursued by a masked figure in the shadows, later revealing itself at the end.
The spot was directed by Great Guns USA’s Dan Trachtenberg, known for helming such thrillers as “10 Cloverfield Lane” and “Prey.”
“I had so much fun crafting this creative campaign, filled with inspiration from other horror movies (see how many references you can spot!),” Trachtenberg said in a press release.
Dum Dums created a new animated video to add to their list of signature black-and-white sketches. In the 30-second spot, a young witch, or “witchling,” learns how to fly on her broomstick for the first time and attends a Halloween Ball with witchling friends, where she meets a wizard boy.
The Spangler Candy-owned brand has been in the candy category since 1924. The brand took a 30-year ad campaign hiatus, however, and began launching new marketing campaigns in 2019.
Chester Cheetah and Cheetos are taking their antics to virtual reality this Halloween. On Oct. 18, Cheetos unveiled Chesterville, a new, digital suburban neighborhood and the first venture into virtual reality for the brand.
"This is a significant moment for both the brand and the portfolio as we broaden the ways we engage with fans, inviting them to experience Cheetos in an entirely new way,” said Stacy Taffet, senior VP of marketing for Frito-Lay, the parent company of Cheetos. “We can't wait to welcome consumers into Chester's virtual domain that brings his personality and Cheetos' brand ethos to life."
The goal is to gain access to the spooky mansion atop Cheetos Hill. Once inside the mansion, fans can unlock a chance to vote for their favorite "ghost of Cheetos' past" and help bring a no-longer-available flavor back to life in the real world. Fans will choose from one of three favorite flavors to resurrect for a limited run: Cheetos Flamin' Hot Chipotle Ranch, Cheetos Flamin' Hot Pepper Puffs or Cheetos Nashville Hot snacks.
Heinz released new versions of its condiments designed for vampire influencers—Black Garlic Mayo and Tomato Blood Ketchup.
To promote these new variants, the brand partnered with Toby, a 280-year-old vampire influencer, who prefers to drink Tomato Blood Ketchup over human blood. Heinz will also open a store in the middle of the Boldu-Cretuleasca forest, in Romania, on Halloween, and will only be open from midnight to 1 a.m. Those who visit the store will be gifted with a sample of the Black Garlic Mayo.
Heinz worked with agency Africa and Hogarth production company on the campaign.
Read more on Heinz's vampire influencer campaign here
Halloween is certainly not a friend to dentists, but Airheads is looking to bring teeth hygiene to the holiday. The candy company introduced Airheads Candy Flavored Dental Floss and distributed it to dentists nationwide as part of its first Halloween activation.
A 45-second spot promoting the campaign shows a dentist’s testimony about the hate he usually receives on Halloween. “We realized there was one group during Halloween that wasn’t quite enjoying it like the rest of us—dentists. That’s because everybody thinks dentists don’t give out the good stuff. So we thought we’d help them out a little bit with candy-flavored floss,” Craig Cuchra, VP of marketing at Perfetti Van Melle, maker of Airheads candy, said in an email.
