Four Kickass Halloween Campaigns You May Have Missed

Some people love it because it brings communities together and allows kids to hang out in safe(ish) groups as they get to know the neighbourhood. Others hate it because it promotes unhealthy demand for sweets and may diminish the comfortable boundaries we set with our neighbours (if you are like my household, the door only gets opened after 6.00pm for pizza and emergency services). But either way, Halloween is well and truly here in Australia and it’s probably only going to get bigger based on the commitment it gets from supermarkets and department stores (which stand to make shitloads of money on sweets and accessories out of season).

Be that as it may, here are four cool marketing ideas that brands launched over the last few years. ???

Crest toothpaste’s candy safe.

In 2021, Crest toothpaste in the USA offered users the chance to win a code-lockable candy safe. It is unclear if the idea was conceived for parents to limit how much candy the kids could have, or to allow kids to keep the parents away from their sweets. But during a period of the year where teeth care should be at a premium (which would obviously be of benefit to Crest), the addition of a vault for the kids’ hard-earned bounty was a neat idea.

Heinz Tomato Blood Ketchup.

Also in 2021, Heinz got in on the act by giving their tomato ketchup a makeover. The Tomato Blood Ketchup campaign wasn’t limited to just an updated bottle label. Heinz also released a costume kit which included a bottle of ketchup, makeup palette, tattoos, and fangs.

It is reported that the ketchup was also used as a topical pain-killer for when the mother-in-law cooked dinner. Jokes.

Zombie Skittles: Skittles, but with a sneaky rotten Skittle in the pack.

In 2019, Mars released Zombie Skittles which were essentially the same as regular Skittles, but with renamed flavours: Petrifying Citrus Punch, Mummified Melon, Boogeyman Blackberry, Chilling Black Cherry, and Blood Red Berry. The sneaky kicker was that in every packet lay a zombie Skittle which looked like a normy, but allegedly tasted “utterly disgusting” (tones of onion and vomit according to some YouTubers).

Some may say that all Skittles taste disgusting, but either way, this was a cool idea.

Burger King: Come as a Clown, Eat Like a King. ?

The coolest, and most friggin’ terrifying campaign was the 2017 Scary Clown Day campaign by Burger King. Free Whoppers were available to the first 500 people dressed as clowns on Halloween night who visited participating venues.

The trolling of Maccas in the promotional video is unmistakable, but the general creepiness makes for never-sleeping-again material.