Though Halloween can be regarded as the start of the holiday season, it ranks number ten according to Statista, however, some of the most memorable advertising campaigns are remembered from the so-called “spooky season.” The Halloween bucket that replaced Happy Meals at McDonald’s, the whole of “Monstober” on The Disney Channel, and many more amazing marketing campaigns have stuck with us since childhood. That being said, some of the most ingenious campaigns come from more recent times.
Stranger Things is an incredibly popular TV show that premiered on Netflix in 2016. Its first season was received with stellar reviews, and its second season was even more anticipated than the first. In order to drum up potential viewers, Netflix worked with a retailer in London to create an in-person experience. The retailer redesigned its storefront to create many iconic sets from the show and had branded merchandise that people could purchase. This experience would not be the last of its kind, as many pop-up “Stranger Things” experiences have popped up more and more as the show gained even more popularity.
Though the marketing tactic described above was amazing, one of the more “spooky” tactics that occurred due to advertising was all because of an advertising campaign constructed by Burger King in order to rival its competitor. In a creative way to increase the number of customers, Burger King said that if customers came into a Burger King establishment dressed as a clown on Halloween, they would be eligible to receive a free burger. With a clear jab at McDonalds, the clown themed promotion proved to be a success increasing “its sales worldwide by 15%” (Urrutia).
This success story of Burger King and Netflix is just a couple of creative tactics used by companies to increase business around Halloween. One of the most popular candy brands, M&Ms, has its own story to tell when it released an interactive game for consumers to be puzzled by. The game that was released was an interactive online art piece that was filled with riddles and puzzles that revealed different cameos from many different, classic horror movies. The campaign was aimed at triggering people’s critical thinking and rose to popularity due to the announcement of the dark chocolate version of the popular candy being made permanent in the brand’s product line (Arica). To this day, if you google “how to’s'' on the game, many different results and step by step guides will lead you in the process of finding every easter egg.
Halloween is a very popular holiday, and many companies use that as a way to garner business to their company. Due to this onslaught of different advertising and marketing campaigns, many businesses have had to be creative in the ways they promote their products, resulting in horrifyingly, amazing advertising promotions that will stand the test of time and be stuck with us for many more spooky years to come.