13 Terrifyingly Good Halloween Ad Campaigns (2023)
Halloween was my favorite holiday growing up. An entire day devoted to dressing up, getting candy, and watching scary movies? Always did the trick. And treat. As we age and start footing our own dental bills, the Halloween love can dissipate a bit. But… good Halloween marketing? Timeless.
That’s why for this week’s blog, I wanted to take a look at some of the best Halloween ads and marketing campaigns from over the years, and pick out 13 of them to post about. Let’s dive in!
#1 – Liquid Death – “Martha Stewart Dismembered Moments Candle”
Liquid Death has always been one for shock value. Look no further than the name of the brand for proof! This canned water company decided to team up with Martha Stewart for the perfect juxtaposed ad campaign: having the famed homemaker promote a candle that looks like a severed hand.
Why we love it:
- You spend a lot of the ad wondering what’s happening and waiting for the reveal – I’ve never been so excited to see what a candle looks like
- Mixing the light, airy soundtrack of a Martha Stewart segment with the screams and metal music made for an engaging watch
- The candle itself honestly looks pretty good
- This campaign could readily be cut up from a 60-second video to shorter segments posted on social platforms
- Halloween is the perfect holiday for a special promotion from a brand called “Liquid Death” and the whole ad directly caters to their audience
#2 – Kit Kat – “The Never Ending Kit Kat Trick-or-Treat Bowl”
In 2022, KitKat released this special bowl that encourages trick-or-treaters to “take all you want.” This plays off the “please take one” signs that typically accompany bowls that are left on the doorstep at Halloween. By some form of magic or witchcraft, KitKat found a way to automatically refill a bowl, so the treats never run out. This campaign did so well that it even made it on the Late Late Show with James Corden.
Why we love it:
- KitKat’s brand messaging is completely related to sharing (break me off a piece…). This bowl is just one more iteration of that trend, with a never-ending bowl so there is enough for everyone to enjoy.
- The bowl itself inspires a level of curiosity (I seriously have no idea how it works), helping to draw even more interest and engagement.
- Not only does the concept lend itself to KitKat’s marketing messages being delivered, but it’s also primed for others to share and plays into the virality that makes marketing campaigns so notable.
- It subtly indicates that the only candy that should be in your bowl are KitKats. And you should buy a lot of them to keep your bowl feeling “never ending.”
- What a fun item to have in your store if you’re a candy store!
#3 – Heinz – “Tomato Blood”
If you come across any fake zombies or draculas this season, check their fake blood to see if it’s actually ketchup. Using ketchup as fake blood has been a signature move for penny-pinchers and DIY costume-makers for years. Now, Heinz is leaning into it and going big by labeling their ketchup bottles as “tomato blood” for the 2021 Halloween season. This campaign involves limited-run packaging, merchandise, and a 15-second spot produced by Wieden+Kennedy NY to promote the product being sold at grocery stores across the country.
Why we love it:
- Self-awareness is great. Though the chefs behind Heinz’s original recipe ketchup would love to think it’s exclusively used for consumption, it’s okay to acknowledge a product can also be used as fake blood for Halloween.
- Taking this campaign one step further and actually selling a tomato blood costume kit? Love it. You can buy yours for $20.
- Though the product name is being changed and the label is switched up just a bit, the brand consistency is still prominent on this special, limited-run Heinz bottle. Great call on the design front of both the bottle and the ad.
#4 – General Mills – “The Remaking of The Mash: A Monster Miracle”
Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved General Mills’ monster-themed cereals. So in 2021, when General Mills celebrated 50-years of making cereals like Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry: I was all about it. This campaign involved the creation of limited-edition Monster Mash cereal (combining all monsters), vinyl soda products, POP! Funko character, watches, and an incredible “monster mash remake” song. They even released a mockumentary talking about the creation of the song. Well done, General Mills.
Why we love it:
- Count Chocula vocals made an already-great song even better.
- This is a great example of how to make your 50-year anniversary something that’s not just interesting for you, but interesting for everybody else too.
- General Mills found the perfect way to diversify their marketing efforts by having so many different avenues through which they promoted this – from the song to limited-edition cereal releases, and more.
- The “mockumentary” is a perfect example of how to repurpose content – as some people may have first seen the mockumentary, and then gone back to see what the rest of the campaign was about.
#5 – Snickers – “The Horseless Headsman”
The advertising group BBDO New York produced this commercial for Snickers, which was the first of a series of “you’re not you when you’re hungry” videos in October 2012. To make things even spookier, the commercial was filmed by Craig Gillespie, the director of Fright Night. Snickers have been a long-time staple of the trick-or-treat season, and the tricks in this ad campaign were a total treat for viewers.
Why we love it:
- Humor makes ads more memorable – and the humor in this one still has us laughing nine years later.
- The “Horseless Headsman” went on to take over the Snickers Facebook page later that month, resulting in a series of funny posts. You know you’ve got something good when the character from an ad has a persona of his own.
- Though the treatment was novel, the slogan “you’re not you when you’re hungry” was a continuation for Snickers that predated this commercial. We love brand consistency.
#6 – Temptations – “Tasty Human Treats”
Look, this is weird. But Halloween is the best time to test “weird.” How often have we thought “if our cats were bigger, would they try to eat us?” This leans into that exact notion and provides a cat treat that “tastes like humans.” In reality, it’s chicken, liver, and beef flavors. BUT… the message lands. Treat your cats to tasty human, before they treat themselves to you. Spooky, indeed.
Why we love it:
- It makes you pause and think “are they really encouraging us to feed human to our cats?” In this day of marketing, any moments of pause are good for brands – it means that we’re forced to pay attention.
- The Halloween-branded Temptations bag looks great.
- “All it takes is a shake” is pretty brilliant copywriting for a cat treat brand.
- It makes you second guess the next time your cat licks you.
- Their main campaign video is short, sweet, and will play well across a variety of mediums (YouTube, Facebook Ads, etc.).
#7 – Crest – “Bring on The Candy Safes”
If you’re a Crest exec: do you view Halloween as a good thing for business? Though we all had one family in the neighborhood who passed out dental supplies (to our chagrin), the reality is that toothpaste sales probably skyrocket in the days following Halloween. And Crest took advantage of this time to market a SAFE, to help kids keep their candy safe and enjoy it over time (instead of eating it all in one sitting). Great example of knowing your audience.
Why we love it:
- Crest is kind of the “bad guy” for a lot of children, but with this ad, it positions Crest as the fun uncle. He lets you eat your candy, just wants you to do so in moderation (and use toothpaste afterwards).
- To enter to win, parents had to post an image on Instagram and explain why their family loves Crest. So not only did Crest get their message out there, they had a lot of others sharing their message too.
Once again, we love brand consistency. “Crest has you covered” has been a motto used by the toothpaste brand for a while, and we love the spooky treatment it received on this ad.
#8 – Nextdoor x Reese’s – “Treat Maps”
Nextdoor collaborated with Reese’s to launch a “Treat Map” which provides an interactive local guide for the #1 neighborhood holiday. It is a tool that lets neighbors know how you will be celebrating this October – whether you plan to hand out treats, if you have decorations at your house, etc. This helps parents with kids know which streets are the best to visit with their trick-or-treaters.
Why we love it:
- Not only is this a great branded collaboration, but it’s incredibly useful for both houses who want trick-or-treaters to visit, and for parents who want to bring their trick-or-treaters to a neighborhood that actually celebrates Halloween.
- It’s a bit of an unsuspecting pair, but Reese’s likely has more Halloween market share than Nextdoor. For Nextdoor, Reese’s is a great brand for them to connect with and co-market with.
This is a great opportunity for people who are new to Nextdoor to consider downloading it and using Nextdoor for future purposes too. If you enjoyed the Treat Map so much, imagine the fun you’ll enjoy the other 364 days in a year!
#9 – Nike – “Halloween Dunk Lows”
The Halloween season is typically known for outrageous fashion, but Nike is trying to switch that up. If I liked the color orange more, I’d probably buy these. Nike is celebrating the 2021 Halloween season with the release of a “Dunk Low” shoe that looks relatively ordinary in daylight, but glows to reveal a spooky pattern in the dark. This shoe, released in October 2021, is a great example of how product marketing can gel with a holiday season.
Why we love it:
- The subtlety of the imagery used in ad images for this campaign (including the image shown above) helps show a seemingly-normal shoe, while still displaying the glow-in-the-dark differentiator in the background.
- Try searching “Nike Dunk Low Halloween” on Google… you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything directly from Nike about it. When you get to a spot where you have so much brand loyalty and excitement around your products, the blogs and other media sources will handle the marketing process for you. We love that minimal ad spend was used to promote these new shoes, and instead, a mix of affiliate and organic efforts helped bolster the excitement.
#10 – Burger King – “Scary Clown Night”
Burger King has had a history of making awesome Halloween ads. Remember the black bun burger? Go look that up. Anywho… this is one of their absolute best campaigns as it also has some subtle jabs at the “scary” Ronald McDonald (their known nemesis). Certain Burger King locations were offering a FREE whopper to those who showed up to their restaurant dressed as a clown. And the treatment they used to promote this? A fear-inducing 90- second spot. I love it.
Why we love it:
- What better way to pick on McDonald’s than by casting their mascot as a creepy clown? Which, to be honest, it is.
- The video that was produced to promote this is attention-grabbing, and (for at least 15-30 seconds), I thought I was watching an actual trailer for a horror film.
- This campaign, similar to Chipotle’s “Boo-ritto” campaign, is a great way to get people to come to your restaurant on Halloween to enjoy something free. Chances are, they’ll purchase a lot more than the free Whopper.
#11 – Airbnb – “Sleep in Dracula’s Castle”
As someone who struggles to sleep peacefully in any new location, this is probably the worst prize I could imagine. But even I have to admit how cool this giveaway campaign from Airbnb was. In 2016, the online lodging marketplace offered a contest where the winners were flown to Romania to spend Halloween night in Castle Bran (Dracula’s Castle). As you could imagine, this campaign generated a ton of buzz for Airbnb (earned media through the roof!), and was a perfect way to connect their business with the Halloween season.
Why we love it:
- You’d be hard-pressed to find a more unique giveaway campaign than this one.
- In 2016, Airbnb was in a heavy growth period (twice as many users in 2016 than 2014), and campaigns like this helped launch them into being a household name.
- The giveaway wasn’t a gimmick. Airbnb went all in by paying for flights to Romania, bringing winners to the castle in a horse-drawn carriage, and even allowing visitors to sleep in plush coffins.
#12 – Skittles – “Rotten Zombie Skittles”
Mars released this special edition of skittles where “most taste delicious, but some taste like rotten zombie.” These skittle bags included 5 good-tasting flavors (citrus punch, melon, blackberry, black cherry, red berry) and a few other flavors that were intentionally bad-tasting. Here’s what JunkBanter had to say about the rotten flavor: “OH MY GOD IT TASTES LIKE SOMEONE FARTED IN MY MOUTH.” Who doesn’t want that?
Why we love it:
- People who love Halloween are naturally a little bit twisted. This is the kind of snack that they would buy and either give to trick-or-treaters, or make their friends taste without explaining.
- The “roulette” style game is a play, no matter the product. This is a great way to get people to play a fun game with friends or family.
- I love the branding. The zombie skittle brand looks fantastic and naturally would catch my eye on any shelf, as it’s a slight-enough deviation from the normal Skittles brand to make you look twice.
- Just like the “beanboozled” jelly beans challenge, this feels like a product that could also lend itself to a social media challenge/series taking place.
#13 – Fanta – “#WhatTheFanta”
Fanta has also mastered the art of Halloween advertising. In 2023, they’ve launched their new “#WhatTheFanta” zero sugar soda. This soda is billed as having a “look and flavor shrouded in secrecy.” It also turns tongues black (woah!) and has an online game where clue collectors can try to uncover the flavor.
Why we love it:
- The interactive element of an online game (and social media challenge) helps to make this campaign even more successful.
- Everybody loves suspense – especially in the Halloween season – so having the suspense of wondering the flavor helps make this an even more fun experience.
- #WhatTheFanta is a nice play off “want a Fanta”
- I love the packaging design
As a consumer, holidays like Halloween present a great time to get out and support both national and local businesses. As a marketer, there are some wonderful opportunities to leverage the holiday buzz and use it to influence your marketing campaigns. If you’d like to discuss how our team at AdShark can help shape your digital advertising efforts, we’d be happy to help. Feel free to contact us to discuss your business’ goals and your (spooky) ideas! Thanks for reading.
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