Halloween 2024: Best Brand Strategies
Published 28 October 2024
Nearly three quarters (72%) of Americans intend to celebrate Halloween this year, with an average spend of $103.63 per person (NRF, 2024). Brands are harnessing Halloween hype via fandom-fuelled collaborations (NYX x Warner Bros; Getty x Sony), localised rescue BOOths designed to stop candy supplies from running out (M&M’s), small-scale sonic branding (Lush) and a TikTok-fuelled #BooBasket trend.
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NYX Recruits Reality Stars for Fandom-Fuelled Campaign
In partnership with American film studio Warner Bros and superhero entertainment giant DC, US-based cosmetics brand NYX tapped into superhero/villain fandom via its 2024 Halloween campaign Who Stole Halloween?, spotlighting key franchise characters, aligned with recent and upcoming cinematic releases Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Joker: Folie à Deux (both 2024) and Catwoman in The Batman Part II (2026). For more on harnessing fandom, see Full-Spectrum Fan-tainment in Look Ahead 2025.
An Instagram Reel series stars a cast of reality TV stars, including Jersey Shore’s DJ Pauly D as The Joker, Selling Sunset’s Christine Quinn as Catwoman, The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Nene Leakes as Poison Ivy, as well as Love Island contestants Whitney Adebayo (UK) as Freddy Krueger, Cely Vazquez (US) as Freeze and Tasia Hafenstein (Australia) as Beetlejuice. The content spoofs reality TV tropes with confessional-style clips unravelling the Who Stole Halloween? mystery.
On NYX’s website, visitors can access a virtual try-on feature and follow step-by-step video tutorials and integrated product links for the cast’s Halloween make-up looks, created by Canadian make-up artist Mimi Choi, who previously collaborated with NYX on surreal make-up looks in 2022. See High-Tech Halloween: Interactive & Mixed Reality in Halloween 2022: Best Brand Strategies.
Nyx
Nyx 'Who Stole Halloween?' Instagram Series
Nyx 'Who Stole Halloween?' Instagram Series
Nyx 'Who Stole Halloween?' Instagram Series
 Nyx 'Who Stole Halloween?' Instagram Series |  Nyx 'Who Stole Halloween?' Instagram Series |  Nyx 'Who Stole Halloween?' Instagram Series |
M&M’s Rescue Squad Returns via BOOths
Confectionery giant Mars’s annual survey revealed that Americans see candy as the most important element contributing to a positive Halloween experience (Mars, 2024). In response, Mars-owned M&M’s revived its 2023 Rescue Squad collaboration with American food delivery service Gopuff that saw candy delivered for free to those with emptied treat bowls on Halloween (see Halloween 2023: Best Brand Strategies).
The 2024 iteration introduces two phone-box-style Rescue BOOths for users to call for an instant candy refill – dispensed from the booth. The locations of the booths (Philadelphia and New Jersey) were selected from areas that requested the most assistance from the M&M’s Rescue Squad in 2023. Those living further from the booths can still ask for help via the M&M’s website from 5pm on Halloween, with Gopuff set to deliver candy to homes in under 30 minutes.
M&Ms Rescue Booth
M&Ms Rescue Booth
 M&Ms Rescue Booth |  M&Ms Rescue Booth |
Lush’s Spooky Shower Soundscapes
Leveraging small-scale sonic branding, British beauty brand Lush’s Halloween collection includes a Scan Me for Scares shower gel. A QR code on the packaging links to a Lush-curated Halloween-themed Spotify playlist to soundtrack shower routines.
For more on sonic branding, see Fashion & Beauty Retailers Tap into Innovative Sonic Branding.
Lush
Lush
Lush
 Lush |  Lush |  Lush |
TikTok Sparks #BooBasket Hype
Amassing more than 83,000 TikTok posts, the #BooBasket trend sees individuals crafting a Halloween-themed rendition of an Easter basket. Boo baskets include gifts suited to autumnal weather (slippers, blankets and mugs) alongside Halloween candy and toys. Recognising spiking consumer interest, brands are chiming in with boo basket product guides – such as Lush’s Build Your Own Boo Basket product page and American supermarket Walmart’s curated boo basket shopping list.
TikTok Boo Baskets: @amyfyffe_
TikTok Boo Baskets: @caseydelorenzo
TikTok Boo Baskets: @astoldbymichelle
 TikTok Boo Baskets: @amyfyffe_ |  TikTok Boo Baskets: @caseydelorenzo |  TikTok Boo Baskets: @astoldbymichelle |
Lush
Walmart
 Lush |  Walmart |
Getty Images x Sony’s AI ‘Venomised’ Pets:
Tapping into the increased inclusion of pets in Halloween celebrations (25% of American Gen Zers and millennials plan to dress up their pets this Halloween; Mars, 2024), American stock photo supplier Getty Images and Marvel distributor Sony Entertainment have launched a microsite allowing users to digitally transform an image of their pet using Getty AI into an eerie representation of the titular character from Marvel film Venom: The Last Dance.
Getty Images x Sony
Getty Images x Sony
 Getty Images x Sony |  Getty Images x Sony |
