It’s Alive!
In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a question emerge every fall – what is Halloween becoming? Every year, Halloween seems to grow and expand, becoming a pop culture phenomenon as well as an opportunity for brands to create activations and generate buzz. What does our popular obsession with Halloween say about us, and where our culture is headed?
Halloween occupies a unique cultural mindspace. It isn’t a federally recognized holiday. While it has roots in faith, it’s secular enough to draw the ire of the highly religious. It doesn’t commemorate an important moment for our nation, like the 4th of July, or people we value, like Mother’s Day. In fact, in its current incarnation, it’s not really about anything at all, except what might best be described as a vibe.
The history of Halloween is a little convoluted – it began as a pagan holiday in the British Isles to mark the end of summer, and was adapted by Christian missionaries into All Hallows’ Eve, which is how the name Halloween came about. By the mid-1800s, it was largely unknown in the United States, until it went – for lack of a better word – viral. Newspapers picked up stories of mothers hosting Halloween parties for their children as a bit of a retro novelty, and the trend happened to dovetail nicely with the growing popular awareness of – and interest in – what we’d now consider simply “childhood.” People were spending more time than ever indulging children’s interests, keeping them entertained, and helping them socialize. Mass popular culture was also emerging in the US, and Halloween spread like wildfire among a middle class with disposable income.
By the turn of the 20th century, Halloween had gone a little bit feral; marauding bands of kids were causing real damage to their neighborhoods, and traditions like trick-or-treating became a way to divert that destructive energy.
Today, Halloween is perhaps the most fully-featured holiday in terms of sheer content and ways to engage – decorations, costumes, movies, music, foods, activities. It’s also the most directly tapped into popular culture; year-round, we engage in behaviors that feel tied to Halloween. From obsessions like Cosplay at fan conventions, to watching horror movies, to listening to the Cure on repeat, Halloween has an all-year energy that Christmas could never dream of.
What Halloween might be, really, is the king of the “vibe holiday” calendar – a motley roster that could also include the ‘Bama Rush, Spring Break, Comicon, May the 4th (Star Wars Day), 4/20 (the unofficial celebration of Cannabis culture) and the occasional one-off like Barbenheimer. They’re pop-culture celebrations where the commercialization is built right in; we don’t hear many complaints that Halloween has “gone too corporate” – the branded tie-ins are part of the charm, and what consumers are looking for is, above all else, fun.
Identifying and engaging with vibe holidays can have serious value for a brand – aligning with the right one(s) and helping to build an offer, activation or marketing idea in a way that surprises and delights consumers, can give year-round returns.