PROMO | 3 MIN READ
Ghost of Promos Past: Vintage Fast-Food Halloween Promotional Products
Original article written by Jim Hollis for asicentral.com
Halloween is a prime opportunity for brands to get playful and creative with their promotional products. Much like trick-or-treaters collecting candy, companies hand out branded items to make a lasting impression during spooky season. The first Halloween promo trend? Trick-or-treat bags! Brands like Orville Redenbacher released themed bags in the 1980s, hoping to replace kids’ trusty pillowcases. Later, McGruff the Crime Dog bags promoted safety tips for Halloween night.
Though these paper bags didn’t last—reusable bags soon took over—the idea of Halloween-themed promos stuck. Fast-food chains saw the potential and quickly joined in, using affordable, festive items to boost sales through the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Let’s explore some of these iconic Halloween campaigns and see what lessons we can learn!
McDonald’s
The biggest name in dining worldwide had their hands all over the Halloween promo landscape in decades past. Considering many neighborhood McDonald’s became a hangout spot for kids pre- or post-trick-or-treating, it was advantageous for them to capture this cross-promotional opportunity with promos like the Halloween Boo Bucket, a popular happy meal container featuring ghost, goblin and jack-o-lantern designs.
Incorporating Halloween-themed toys into Happy Meals was always an effective strategy, including McNugget Buddies, chicken-nugget-shaped figures dressed in various spooky costumes. While not specifically a Halloween-themed giveaway, the summer release of the movie Batman Forever in 1995 was well timed for a late summer/early fall rollout of Batman collector’s mugs to inspire Halloween costumes.
Of course, McDonald’s also had the foresight to consider repeat business, as they branded Halloween-themed coupons for cheap menu items (small fries, ice cream cones, etc.) to get their eager clientele back in the store as quickly as possible.
Burger King
There are few things as iconic in the fast-food landscape as the paper crown from Burger King. It’s a simple yet effective promotional product that kids can construct themselves to wear many times, both inside the restaurant and when they get home. Unsurprisingly, Burger King took this concept a step further by introducing twists on the classic crown with artwork evoking ghosts, witches, bats and jack-o-lanterns. They even extended this idea a bit further with a Halloween mask of their (inadvertently spooky) mascot, the King.
Burger King also embraced trends set by McDonald’s, partnering with Universal Studios to give away figures of classic monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman.
Taco Bell
Taco Bell was one of the first brands to incorporate glow-in-the-dark items into their Halloween marketing in a move that’s proven to stand the test of time. Their glow-in-the-dark cups in the late 80s were a huge hit with kids of all ages and provided multi-use functionality on a product that gave them brand exposure long after Halloween was over.
Importantly, all of these restaurants understand the value of promos as valued keepsakes, encouraging patrons to return again and again to collect them all.
Wendy’s
Understanding that promoting their brand on Halloween might also mean that kids would be too full from candy to eat at their restaurants, Wendy’s developed an ingenious strategy to replace traditional Halloween candy with their iconic Frosty via a coupon they could redeem in store.
Their coupon booklets also contained other discounted or free menu items (small fries or a drink) to promote positive brand association and year-round visits.
KFC
With their signature menu item – a bucket of chicken – already resembling a Halloween basket, KFC was in a unique position among the fast-food giants to take advantage of Halloween promotions by creating useable treat-or-treat buckets decorated with ghosts, ghouls and other spooky seasonal artwork.
