There’s nothing more disappointing than a candy brand that makes a big, splashy marketing push for a “new” Halloween candy and it’s… the same old candy in a Frankenstein wrapper. Or the same old candy with orange and brown sprinkles on top. On some level, I get it. Halloween is candy’s red carpet moment, and there must be some serious pressure to reinvent the wheel every October. Still, a lot of brands phone it in—so it’s nice to see the ones that appear to be having genuine fun with the holiday, finding clever new ways to market a decades-old product. Here are some campaigns that stood out to us this year.
Airheads shows dentists some love
Just like Sun-Maid and its raisin-themed house of horrors, Airheads is leaning into an old trick-or-treating trope this season.
“Anyone who has lived on a dentist’s block knows it is the least frequented house by trick-or-treaters,” reads a press release from Airheads. The solution: provide dentists with Airheads Candy Flavored Dental Floss, an actual limited-time product that can be placed in trick-or-treaters’ buckets this Halloween.
Surely it’s not easy triangulating a compromise between sugar-hungry kids and the health professionals tasked with preventing those same kids’ teeth from rotting, but Airheads found a clever way to do just that. The announcement came with a genuinely funny commercial spot, too.
Kit Kat invents an endless candy dispenser
There are always two problems with the bowl of Halloween candy left out on the porch with a sign reading “Please take one”: no trick-or-treaters obey the sign, and no one in the house refills the bowl. In response to this age-old twofold dilemma, Kit Kat has invented the Never-Ending Trick-or-Treat Bowl, which “magically” refills every time it’s running low on candy (presumably via some mechanics hidden under the table upon which the bowl is perched). See it in action here.
Though I would pay handsomely for such a device, the bowl is regrettably not for sale. Instead, it’s making select appearances at Halloween events around the country, starting in Halloween-loving Salem, Massachusetts. You can request that Kit Kat bring the bowl to your town by tagging @KITKAT_US on Instagram and using the #KitKatBowl hashtag.
Reese’s helps you hide your peanut butter cups
Behold, the Reese’s Secret Stash Trick-or-Treat Bag, outfitted with a hidden compartment into which you can slip all your coveted Reese’s peanut butter cups so you don’t have to share them. The bag appears to be a decent size (unlike McDonald’s trick-or-treat Boo Bucket Halloween pails), and the design really is quite cute.
There’s only a limited quantity of Secret Stash bags available, but they’re free. Starting today, if you go to shop.hersheys.com and purchase a 9.6-oz. bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Snack Sized Ghosts, Bats & Pumpkins, you’ll get a free trick-or-treat bag tacked onto your order, while supplies last.
This isn’t only a great way for Reese’s to brag about its status as the most widely beloved Halloween candy—it’s also proof that a fun seasonal promotion doesn’t have to be overly complicated.