BOO: Will COVID Cancel Halloween?

As we reach late September, I couldn’t help but notice Halloween is starting to appear at the forefront, from Paper Source’s robust Halloween display on the Upper West Side to headlines about “Karen” Halloween masks (eek!).

This led me to ask myself: How will brands react to a major consumer and cultural event taking place squarely amongst a pandemic, social movements, an election, and extreme weather patterns? As an $8B holiday, will Halloween actually be canceled, or will we experience the holiday with new norms? 

To get a glimpse of what to expect, I wanted to highlight what some key players are doing. 

HERSHEYS

According to the National Confectioners Association, last year’s Halloween candy sales reached $4.6B, making it the largest sales moment for candy. Because of this importance for the business, not even a pandemic can scare Hershey’s away from marketing efforts around the holiday. Phil Stanley, Hershey’s global chief sales officer told the Wall Street Journal, “We’re taking a proactive approach. We’re really focused on helping consumers find creative ways to celebrate with treats, even though trick-or treating is going to look different this year.” Part of their efforts includes spearheading the development of digital maps and guidelines to help people assess safety precautions with celebrating Halloween based on their location. Hershey’s worked with the Harvard Global Health Institute to create this, and they are sharing safety tips in line with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s social-distancing guidelines. Hershey’s is also cutting back on assorted bags of candy typically used for trick-or treaters and instead focusing on smaller bags for enjoyment at home.  

MARS WRIGLEY 

To fuel a social-distanced Halloween, Mars Wrigley will launch Treat Town, enabling users to virtually trick-or-treat. Through the digital experience, consumers can earn redeemable credits to go toward candy purchases. They are also partnering with the National Safety Council to devise guidelines for consumer safety due to the pandemic, should they forego the app experience. "The virtual Mars Wrigley Treat Town Halloween experience demonstrates how we're reinventing our business to bring better moments and more smiles to consumers," said Anton Vincent, president of Mars Wrigley North America. 

PARTY CITY

Party City has quickly adapted to new at-home celebration consumer habits. “While everything was and is still being canceled we found people still want to celebrate,” said Party City CEO Brad Weston. Because of this, Party City’s digital marketing efforts and e-commerce are already orange with Halloween promotions. The brand has developed party guides and checklists to enable customers to make it easy to still plan parties in new ways. Weston predicts that parades and driveway parties will be popular for Halloween as they have been during the pandemic as consumers find new ways to celebrate. 

I’d love to hear from you! As marketers, what are your Halloween plans? Are there any brand/corporate activities not on here that marketers should be aware of? Karen Halloween Mask: Yea or Nay?

Sources: 

• https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/karen-halloween-mask-scariest-thing
• https://www.wsj.com/articles/hershey-maps-trick-or-treating-risks-in-hopes-coronavirus-wont-scare-off-halloween-sales-11600097275
• https://csnews.com/mars-wrigley-launch-digital-platform-enabling-virtual-trick-or-treating