Spooky season wins: brands that nailed Halloween 2025 đ
Halloween this year wasnât just about pumpkins and faux cobwebs. It was a full-blown brand playbook moment. Letâs dive into how some clever brands turned the spooky season into big wins.
đ Fanta: owning the moment
The global cultural mood around Halloween isnât just about candy and costumes anymore. From a few brands, it was an opportunity for cultural relevance, taping into brand fandom and earning a social share. Fanta tapped into their famous orange colour to claim: âWeâre the soda of Halloweenâ. Backed by horror icons, limited packaging, and a pop-up experience dubbed the âHaunted Fanta Factory.â
đ Heinz: spookily black
Heinz introduced a jet-black mayo for Brazilâs Halloween and let the product be the headline. No big ad blitz needed when the product itself triggers conversation. Heinz isnât just selling sauce anymore, it focuses on building a narrative that plays with emotion, unsettles and creates a buzz.
đ Dunkin: from menu to merch
Dunkin has been leading with their (very cute) spider donuts for the last few years. But recently, they turned their famous Spider Donut into collectible merch items, tapping into the Kaiwaii movement and having its moment.
(Kaiwaii sits more or less at the juncture of âcute,â âtiny,â or âlovable.â The cute aesthetic, with its bold, nearly cartoon-like lines and rounded forms, informs a large segment of Japanese popular culture.)
đ Bacardi: understanding novelty
For Bacardi, the Skeleton Bottle plus cocktail experience tied a spirits brand to the Halloween lifestyle. The limited-edition bottle was designed as a display piece that grabbed attention and featured in peopleâs feeds. Collectors and party throwers scrambled to get a bottle. Its rarity made each post valuable, leading to lots of user-generated content and organic reach.
Lego: quirky keepsakes
Who says Halloween has to be creepy and scary? With a wreath, a pumpkin car and a Day of the Dead-style skull leading the charge, Lego launches a set for everyone. Paired with their theme-park party in California, the famous brick brand created family fun moments that go beyond the usual spooky season vibes.
What Iâve taken away
đ Go beyond the general âthemeâ: Get inspired to create a moment, a product turn, a story worth sharing.
đ The product is the star: Add the spin and spirit to the offering itself, rather than dressing up things around it.
đ Design for social shareability: Collectibles, fan tie-ins, pop-ups⌠all build brand content that grabs attention and appears in feeds.
đ Balance brand integrity and seasonal energy: The brands above didnât go âspooky horrorâ when it felt off-brand. Instead, they found the Halloween groove within who they are.
In short: Halloween campaigns can matter. The brands that nailed it this year didnât just dress up, they transformed part of their brand world for the season.
Since itâs been a while since my last post, I wanted to leave you with my favourite addiction: coffee. May your week be full of it (and if you donât like it, then I hope you have your own addiction to compensate for it). Ă tout Ă lâheure!
