October 22, 2025 • 33 mins
During spooky season, when the veil is thin, the undead may walk – and marketers run with it. Anney and Lauren present the creepy and the kooky of Halloween seasonal food and beverage marketing.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Sabor production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm any Reason and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we
have an episode for you about spooky Halloween marketing tie
and the scariest thing.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Of all these capitalism is scary. That is true. That
is true. Well, speaking of none of these are currently sponsors. Nope, nope,
not right now.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
If you like the way that we slightly mock your
advertising and marketing concepts, then get in touch.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yes, we're right here. We're the person were that people
you want? We are waiting for the call. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
But but you know this is like we are both
Annie and I if you couldn't tell this about us,
are both very halloween orient humans. We both really enjoy
horror media. We like the fall season, We like like
the whole kind of thing. I am what you might
refer to as a little bit goth sometimes and uh
(01:13):
and you know, so it's sort of it's it's a
I'm one of those like Halloween is everyday kind of
mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, you're also very left that out.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well I'm not, just because I don't go out in
the sun and I can't have garlic.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I don't know. I guess I'll take your word for it.
I guess you're gonna have to.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
But we we are not obviously, we are not the
only humans who who humans?
Speaker 1 (01:50):
I say, uh, I not a little defensive, I think,
but all right.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
A pair of American consumers are planning on spending a
total of about thirteen point one billion dollars on Halloween
this year, about one hundred and fourteen bucks a person
on average, with households that are particularly excited about the holiday,
(02:20):
like families with kids and younger people planning on spending
over six hundred bucks, which sounds like a great deal
of money to me. And now I'm kind of calculating
we're doing like a household Jaws themed costume situation. And
I'm calculating I'm going to scooper because of course I
am mm hmm. And I'm like, yeah, maybe maybe fifty
(02:43):
bucks overall on you know, different little like drifted pieces
and stuff. But yeah, anyway, eh, people get into it.
I have to say, my mom visited me recently, and
my neighborhood goes all, oh yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Oh yeah, but there's there's a house next to me
that as they're like haunted ship wreck theme. It's just
like blow ups and all, it's just decked out and
then there's a UFO crash site like so I can
see people. I think those decorations really do add up.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Oh absolutely, Although apparently the three main spending categories being candy, costumes,
and decorations are all about equal wedges of that pie
of that like thirteen billion dollar pie, which is wild
to me, costumes are actually the most like slightly higher
than any other category.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Well, and speaking of Laurena and I were talking about recently,
we're just curious if other countries do Halloween like we do.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, well, so I think Canada kind of does. I
think I think Canada's pretty solidly in the same mind frame,
cultural mindset.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
But I don't think anywhere else on the planet does.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Y'all let us know, Like I know that a lot
of other places are really amused and entertained by the
fact that we do this. But and of like started
picking up little little crumbs of it.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yes, but we would We would love to hear from
you because we are working on another Halloween episode, So
please write in about what it's like in your country.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yes, yes, and yeah, yeah, so so we've just got
a bunch of weird stuff to share with you because
and we've never done a Halloween themed one of these
marketing episodes before. We've done winter holidays.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
But yes, yeah, it's a real misstep on our part
because there's a lot going.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
On there is, all right, all right, So let's get
into it.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yes, let's get into it. Some of these are gonna
be quick hits, but I just I could not include them.
Oh yeah, including this first one. Sweethearts, you know, the Valentine's.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Shoppy candy with the little messages on the Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Well, they're offering ghosted hearts, which are these all white
hearts with no messages on them? Oh, in reference to
the practice of ghosting someone. Wow, yeah, I kind of
love it, to be honest.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
That okay, goodness, So is the idea that, like, you
send a box of these to someone who ghosted you?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Ooh, I don't know. I just I just assumed people
love halloween stuff and would buy it even though it's
got no messages on it and it's just a white heart.
It's literally like no food dye, nothing. Just yeah, but
it could be that would be a very creative and
harsh way to send some one message I have to say.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh, well, perhaps, obviously this is not the only candy product.
So Hers, she's based on the popularity of their reeses
shapes like like pumpkins and stuff. Hershe's is offering some
other shaped candies. They've got some ghost shaped Twizzlers, shoes,
(06:29):
and some kit Cat counts like vampire counts.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
That's fun to say kit cat counts. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Part of why I love all of this is that,
like I like, I don't understand. It's that the Halloween
episode that we're also working on is about trig or treating.
And part of the thing that I don't that the
delights me and that I absolutely don't understand is how
America has taken the idea of death and dying and
the unrest of the soul and it's turned it into
(07:02):
this cutesye thing. It's like, oh man, sometimes the souls
of the deceased are doomed to walk the earth forever.
Here's a Twizzler shaped like that.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yes, yes, I think about this often. In fact, I
talked to my mom about it. It's just it feels
like a time of year where there is this very
obviously capitalistic thing that's happening, but there's also kind of
a tongue in cheek. Yes, we're all gonna die. Put
(07:38):
this skeleton outside of the funny hat on. It's just
a kind of a bizarre juxtaposition of this macabre thing.
But also we're really having fun with it. And then
the season just adds to it because it's getting darker earlier,
it's cooler, the leaves are changing colors at least where
(07:59):
we are. Yeah, it's a very and then you're handing
out candy. I love it. I think it's very strange
and I love it. It's and it's so capitalist here.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
And also did you say macabre?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, my sweet dude, it's definitely macabre. Oh I learned
something every day.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah yeah, thank you French. But okay, but so getting
back into our list here. The Eminem's brand started doing
promotion back in twenty twenty three called the Halloween Rescue
Squad And this is an affiliation with gopuff, the delivery service.
So like in some areas wall supplies last, you can
(08:47):
call in an emergency candy bowl refill on Halloween night
and they will show up at your house with candy
and give it to you for free. I think which
is which is nice? This year they hired Nookie for
their ads. I don't know, objectively true sentences that are
weird to say out loud.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Sure that is. That's an odd one. Uh, all right,
I'll have to process that one later, all right. Burger King.
Burger King just had a tie in menu with the
Netflix show Wednesday. But now they have debuted their monster menu,
(09:30):
inspired by famous monsters. So we've got the Jack o
Lantern Whopper, which is a whopper but with an orange bun,
orange buns and black sesame seeds. Mummy mozzarella fries, which
are served in a package that's very cute. It's decorated
like a mummy. Yeah yeah, yeah. Vampire Nuggets, which are
chicken nuggets that are shaped like bats and fangs and
(09:53):
served in a container shaped like a coffin, A frank in,
a frank and candy sun Day a layered purple and
white Sunday topped with purple and green popping candy. Again,
it's kind of funny, like, eat out of this coffin.
You're chipping kids, all right, surely I will. Why wouldn't I?
(10:16):
It's cute, it's adorable. M oh okay, I actually really
like the art of these. The Coca Cola Company is
bringing back Fanta's Halloween collection and this is collaboration with
Blumhouse and Universal Pictures, and the cans feature these horror
(10:37):
movie icons. Uh huh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
The tagline is there back and they want a Fanta.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Absolutely it is all right. So here are the flavors
and the representative characters. We've got Freddie Fosbear on Fanta
Orange and Fanta Orange zero Sugar.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
That's from Five Nights at Freddy's. Yeah, yes, yeah, which
we talked about playing forever ago. Lauren, I know, and
we have not done it. I have not seen you
have a mini breakdown over it. Another thing add it
to the list.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, that will definitely make our feast very exciting, especially
if we've eaten beforehand. Oh no, oh no, indeed. Then
Michael Myers on Pineapple okay, the Grabber on Strawberry, the
grabber from the Black Black Phone. Yeah, okay, Chucky, which
(11:39):
Chucky is on a brand new flavor fruit punch with
a twist. And it's what's the twist? I from what
I read from reviews, it sounds like it's a citrus
kind of oh like a like a like a like
literally with a twist. Yeah, that's what it sounds like. Yeah,
(12:01):
people are reviewing these things, by the way, if you
want to look up like everything we're talking about, people
have thoughts. Oh yeah, some yes, Some theaters and Universal
Theme Parks are offering Megan themed Fanta Grape sodas as well. Okay,
and they also released a short horror game along with
this theme called The Haunted Factory.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, it's it's it's an app game, like I think
it's a little like side scroller set in a haunted
soda factory. The West Coast fast food chain Jack in
the Box also has a halloweeny app game out where
it's menu items come to life and you have to
defeat them. I have not I've not played it, but
(12:44):
but but both of these app games are are based
around like winning like coupon codes and like all the
other small prizes.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah. I have seen a lot a lot of this
with what we're talking about, is companies coming out with
short games where they can where people can win prizes.
Interesting m HM, nineteen crimes. The Wine brand is also
partnering with Universal Pictures with Glow and the Dark labels
(13:11):
of Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and the Mummy.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, it seems like a lot of brands are leaning
into like classic movie monster vibes this year. Not not
sure what that's about in the zeitgeist, but kind of related.
Lee Hines is doing a Halloween themed product in some
of their markets. I'm not sure which ones exactly, but
it's it's a black colored mayonnaise flavored with black garlic,
(13:39):
and the ad for it is very based in like
old like black and white horror film imagery and plays
off of the concept that ketchup can be used as
fake blood, which the brand is previously played with three promotions,
like selling ketchup labeled tomato blood back in like one
(14:01):
It's fun.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, their ad does have a vampire eating this garlic mayo,
which I think, which I think is a slight misstep,
but that's okay.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
We should write in and let them know. Not that
I'm saying that I'm offended for personal reasons, of course. Not. No,
of course not, Lauren. Let's talk about some donuts.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Sure, okay, So Duncan debuted It's Spider Donut back in
twenty seventeen, which is this real cute little like yeast
ring donut with some kind of colorful frosting, either orange
or purple, and a spider formed by plopping a chocolate
munchkin donut hole in the center, with like little white
(14:50):
frosting eyes and little chocolate icing legs out across the
rest of the doughnut. It's super cute if you haven't
seen it. But there's now there's now doughnut spider merch,
including a munchkin bucket that you can use as a
trigg or treat pail. And this year they are doing
a candy bar latte for Halloween. It's a hotter iced
(15:12):
an espresso drink with chocolate, toffee and peanut butter syrups,
topped with whipped cream and candy pieces.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
I think that would kill me, that m drink. Then
that would be a death sentence for me.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I that sounds like an immediate headache. I feel I can. Yeah,
I'm a little hypoglycemic, so like I cannot that. I'm
sure that someone listening to this is like, that is
exactly my bag. I've already had nineteen of them and
they're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Oh
and if that's you. I'm so happy for you. Yes,
(15:49):
I am too, but I would spike and crash and
be the worst person.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Oh, it would not be good for me. No, no, no, nope.
The more I read it, the more events that would
not be good.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Krispy Kream also does have themed donuts, including a haunted
house themed donut called the Cookies and Scream. This is
a yeast donut with the cookies and cream filling, a topping,
and a topping that's made to look like a like
a haunted house on a hill. It's got like chocolate
icing and then chocolate cookie crumbles and that's kind of
(16:29):
the ground, and then a little purple squiggle to sort
of delineate the hill, and then a little painted candy
piece depicting a house with this really chipper little ghost.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Good for you ghosts, Yeah yeah, just because haunting ghost
is having a good time.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Right right, Just because you're stuck on this mortal plane
doesn't mean you have to have a bad time about it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
No, Sometimes you're on donuts it I hope that's not
offensive to the guns. Un live it up, do whatever
you need to, whatever it is, whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Well, we do have some more weird stuff for you here.
But first we've got a quick break for a word
from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank you sponsors.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
And yeah, all right, so we've got to talk about gushers.
This was the inspiration for me for this episode.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah. Yeah, Annie told me about this, and I was like,
do we need to do a Halloween tie in episode?
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Like I had to know more. I had to I'm
just realizing though, that some people might not know what
gushers are. They're still around. I think they're still popular,
but they're, you know, kind of a nineties classic snack there.
They're like really colorful fruit snacks that had this equally
colorful gel stuff inside.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah. Yeah, it's like a normal chewy fruit snack and
then on the inside as a slightly liquid bit.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Yeah yeah, it's the gusher. Yeah. And they are doing
a couple of things this Halloween. First, they're offering a
relatively normal tie in with Wednesday the show the Blueberry
Grape Despair flavor. Yes. But secondly, okay, and more weirdly,
(18:38):
way more weirdly, yeah, way more weirdly. They released a
horror short film called Fruit Hit, directed by Mike Diva
and starring Bradley Whitford as a commercial director and Chester
Collins as a young actor. And the plot is that
Collins starred in a Gusher's commercial that was directed by
(19:00):
Whitford when Collins was a kid, and he got pre
permanently turned into a fruit head, a very scary looking
fruit head, and is now an adult looking for revenge.
And it turns out spoilers, Whitford's character cursed a bag
of gushers to find success in his career. Of course,
(19:24):
you've got to curse the bag of gusher why yeah,
why not? That's obvious. That's how we all made it
in this industry, right, That's what I did. Yeah. I
hope none of you can find my secret bag of
cursed gushers or I'll be in big trouble. Okay, So.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
For anyone who is not watching TV commercials in the
nineteen nineties, Annie, can you break this down a little bit?
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Okay, yes, as much as I can, because if you
haven't seen it, it's it's kind of hard to describe.
But yes, this whole thing was a parody of nineties
commercials that depicted kids' heads turning into very bizarre and
unnerving fruit shapes after eating a.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Gusher, so like the you would eat a gusher and
like your entire head would kind of explode out into
like a giant grape shape or strawberry shape or whatever,
you know whatever.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Yeah, and this is nineties graphics. You've still got the
smiling face of the kid on there. It was very,
very unsettling. And even the reason the ad executive said
they did this is that people still talk about how
they can't forget this. They saw it as a kid
(20:46):
and they still remember. I still remember them too, and
I was very young. They're just they do they paint
an image and it sticks in your brain.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Oh yeah, yeah, I had forgotten about it. But as
soon as yeah, as soon as you said it, I
was like, oh right, oh right, you know you buried
it deep.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah. Well, as part of the promotion, people dressed as
creepy oranges and they haunted a bookstore in New York
for one day only. Yes, and if listeners, if you
saw this, please, oh my goodness, let us know. And
(21:34):
the short film debuted at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival,
and from what I understand, gushers were available at the screening,
so you could eat gushers and then worry that you
might become become a frudhead. Yeah, I love. Yes, you
can watch it online obviously they want you to see it.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
It's a fing thing. But yeah, yeah, yeah, no I
need to go do that. Yeah. So one that we
missed last year because again this is the first time
that we've done this is last year, Chipotle teamed up
with Spirit Halloween, the costume company, to release these adult
(22:14):
sized body suits printed with like Chipotle restaurant themed designs
so that you could more easily be a foil wrapped
burrito or a Chipotle to go bag or a black
plastic fork for Halloween. The costumes are no longer available
(22:36):
on Spirit's website, I'm sad to say, but you can
in fact find them secondhand on sites like eBay.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yes, I checked. You know what I want to go
as this year, honey, A black plastic fork. Not not
sparky from story, just a regular old black plastic Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
The images, the images are pretty funny because the person
wearing the fork costume is just like their head is
the center tye and they're holding up their other two
arms as the other times, and it's just it's just
a black bodysuit.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
That's all it is. So it requires an arm workout.
That's the best kind of costume you can get. Oh man,
is that people are like, what are you? And then
you raise both your arms or else They'll never know.
They'll never know. Yeah. Another thing that we missed last.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Year is that Airheads. You know the chewy fruit candy. Yeah,
they did a free giveaway of cherry candy scented foot
deodorizer that came in a spray can built to look
like a disembodied foot. Oh, Airheads, yeah, Airheads Yeah, so's
(24:03):
there was a lot going on in that sentence. It's
possible that you have questions for answers, we must turn
to a classic Halloween invocation from the nineteen eighties to nineties,
which goes trick or treat, smell my feet, give me
something good to eat. Wow, you gotta hand it to them.
(24:29):
M I was never expecting that deep cut. Yeah, I
was like, oh, okay. Airheads, Yeah, that's sure.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Would have loved to been in on that meeting.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
They are a brand that kind of leans into that
like roller rank nostalgia from the era. So yeah, I'm
gonna have to look that up. Okay, m oh, it's
it's beautiful. It is a bright red rubber foot spray can,
(25:00):
and it says smell my feet on it. And it's
really inscrutable. The poor human is signed to talk to
write about it on Food and Wine Magazine's website had
no idea what was going on.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
I think that's completely legitimate. I think that's how are
we to grapple with the fact that this exists. I
don't know, but we must go on. And this brings
us to our final entry. Not strictly Halloween related, but
(25:37):
I would argue it is adjacent. Taco Bell is currently
offering a Y two K menu, so if any listeners
are too young to know what Y two K is.
It was when on the eve of the year two thousand,
we were all afraid that the computers would fail because
(25:58):
there is no year zero would get to zero and
just and we were buying up all the water and
preparing for the end of the world all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Fun fact, the panic was at its root well founded,
because like there was a very real possibility that a
whole lot of computer systems that did, even that long ago,
very important things for our society were going to fail.
And the only reason that nothing happened. Is that a
lot of people put in a lot of hard work
to make sure that nothing happened. Coordinated implementation of a
(26:32):
solution to a problem. What more generally, though, because I
and I think that so you're thinking of a very
specific corner of Y two K, I strongly believe that
they're not angling at the panic. I like that your
brain went there. I'm concerned, but I appreciate it. But like,
(26:56):
more generally, around the turn of the millennium, you know,
we had this whole esthetic of like pop futurism, you know,
like everything was just big and bright. In fashion that
translated to you know, like the super wide leg jeans
and puff fabrics and metallics and bright primary or pastel colors,
(27:18):
and in food it meant these kind of silly excesses
of like punches of flavor and texture.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yes, So when it comes to this menu that Taco
Bell has brought back, it's items from what they offered
in two thousand, like the caramel apple and Panada cool
Ranch to Rito's Locos Tacos, seven layer burrito, double decker taco,
and chili cheese burrito. And yeah, the announcement and press
(27:51):
materials are all very two thousand. They're very bright blue
and yellow.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
I looked this up and I was physically unprepared for
the giant wedge of baby blue eyeshadow that one of
the models is wearing, or for the for the bright
yellow like goggle style sunglasses that a young fellow is wearing.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
I was just like, I like recoiled from my computer screen.
See horrifying it. Well, Lauren, if you haven't looked up.
They also released limited edition two thousands fashions item no
fashion items, and they are shocking, Lauren, A shocking. I
(28:36):
don't I love that? No, No, I think you do.
And they had a two thousands theme party in La
DJ by Little John and they have a digital pet
named Crunchkin, who is very similar, Like, you earn points
and you can maybe get a free what have you? Okay,
(28:57):
like like a little uh yes, because we used to
that was a big thing too. We had little digital pits. Yeah. Yeah.
But here's a note from Taco Bell's press release about
this whole thing. Why two K wasn't just a moment,
it was a lifestyle. I mean that's accurate, that's not
(29:19):
inaccurate at all. It's true. And when we were discussing why.
I personally think this is related to Halloween. There is
kind of the generational horror of realizing when you grew
up it's now a costume. Yeah. Also there's a horror
movie called Why two K so that is based on
(29:43):
the computer situation. But oh my goodness, yeah yeah, that's
uh huh yeah. I again, if you want to I
believe all these items are available at Taco Bell's nation.
Why they kind of did a slow release, But if
you're like, I don't know if I want to go
(30:04):
try them. There are a lot of reviews about oh
yeah items, so you can find From what I understand,
the chili cheese burrito seems to be that in the
Apple and Panada people are really into I think people
like the cool red Strito's Locos tacos, but the they
were saying it get soggy too fast. But I mean,
(30:24):
if you've got opinions, I personally would love to hear them.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Oh yeah, yeah. I didn't like get into Taco Bell
until actually super producer Andrew introduced it to me, so
like within the past like five years. Uh So I
never consumed any of those when they were originally out,
and but I remember hearing all of those words and
(30:51):
I and I guess I was surprised they're not still.
I was like, oh, there's went away, Okay, cool, Well
here we are.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Yeah. They all seemed very beloved, but Taco Bells got
to keep on top of the trends. They do they do.
Oh there's crunch traps. Man. I liked the sent a twist.
I don't know if they offer those anymore. No, I'm
not sure. I was a hard taco girl at all.
(31:20):
Everyone else in my family was a soft taco mmm.
So I always had to fight. I had to beat
my peace did That's why they have the combo boxes.
I think they're just trying to make me, make me
argue my side of it, which I did. Uh. Well,
(31:43):
this has been really fun. We've said before that we
kind of feel like in this country, even though it
seems we're maybe the only ones with Canada perhaps doing
chick or treating, we don't have the same promotions other
countries do around so this was fun to look into.
(32:03):
But we would love to hear from listeners what you
have seen wherever you are.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Oh and goodness, yes, and if you want to wait
until our episode comes out, then and hear and respond
to that, then do that. But if you have insider
information about trigger treating anywhere else, we would love to hear.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It absolutely in the meantime, if you would, If you
do enjoy Halloween, Happy Halloween. Yeah, yes, and you can
email us at hello at saberpod dot com. We're also
on social media.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
saber pod, and we do hope to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Savor is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.
Hello, and welcome to Sabor production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm any Reason and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we
have an episode for you about spooky Halloween marketing tie
and the scariest thing.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Of all these capitalism is scary. That is true. That
is true. Well, speaking of none of these are currently sponsors. Nope, nope,
not right now.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
If you like the way that we slightly mock your
advertising and marketing concepts, then get in touch.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yes, we're right here. We're the person were that people
you want? We are waiting for the call. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
But but you know this is like we are both
Annie and I if you couldn't tell this about us,
are both very halloween orient humans. We both really enjoy
horror media. We like the fall season, We like like
the whole kind of thing. I am what you might
refer to as a little bit goth sometimes and uh
(01:13):
and you know, so it's sort of it's it's a
I'm one of those like Halloween is everyday kind of
mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, you're also very left that out.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well I'm not, just because I don't go out in
the sun and I can't have garlic.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I don't know. I guess I'll take your word for it.
I guess you're gonna have to.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
But we we are not obviously, we are not the
only humans who who humans?
Speaker 1 (01:50):
I say, uh, I not a little defensive, I think,
but all right.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
A pair of American consumers are planning on spending a
total of about thirteen point one billion dollars on Halloween
this year, about one hundred and fourteen bucks a person
on average, with households that are particularly excited about the holiday,
(02:20):
like families with kids and younger people planning on spending
over six hundred bucks, which sounds like a great deal
of money to me. And now I'm kind of calculating
we're doing like a household Jaws themed costume situation. And
I'm calculating I'm going to scooper because of course I
am mm hmm. And I'm like, yeah, maybe maybe fifty
(02:43):
bucks overall on you know, different little like drifted pieces
and stuff. But yeah, anyway, eh, people get into it.
I have to say, my mom visited me recently, and
my neighborhood goes all, oh yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Oh yeah, but there's there's a house next to me
that as they're like haunted ship wreck theme. It's just
like blow ups and all, it's just decked out and
then there's a UFO crash site like so I can
see people. I think those decorations really do add up.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Oh absolutely, Although apparently the three main spending categories being candy, costumes,
and decorations are all about equal wedges of that pie
of that like thirteen billion dollar pie, which is wild
to me, costumes are actually the most like slightly higher
than any other category.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Well, and speaking of Laurena and I were talking about recently,
we're just curious if other countries do Halloween like we do.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, well, so I think Canada kind of does. I
think I think Canada's pretty solidly in the same mind frame,
cultural mindset.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
But I don't think anywhere else on the planet does.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Y'all let us know, Like I know that a lot
of other places are really amused and entertained by the
fact that we do this. But and of like started
picking up little little crumbs of it.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yes, but we would We would love to hear from
you because we are working on another Halloween episode, So
please write in about what it's like in your country.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yes, yes, and yeah, yeah, so so we've just got
a bunch of weird stuff to share with you because
and we've never done a Halloween themed one of these
marketing episodes before. We've done winter holidays.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
But yes, yeah, it's a real misstep on our part
because there's a lot going.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
On there is, all right, all right, So let's get
into it.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yes, let's get into it. Some of these are gonna
be quick hits, but I just I could not include them.
Oh yeah, including this first one. Sweethearts, you know, the Valentine's.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Shoppy candy with the little messages on the Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Well, they're offering ghosted hearts, which are these all white
hearts with no messages on them? Oh, in reference to
the practice of ghosting someone. Wow, yeah, I kind of
love it, to be honest.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
That okay, goodness, So is the idea that, like, you
send a box of these to someone who ghosted you?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Ooh, I don't know. I just I just assumed people
love halloween stuff and would buy it even though it's
got no messages on it and it's just a white heart.
It's literally like no food dye, nothing. Just yeah, but
it could be that would be a very creative and
harsh way to send some one message I have to say.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh, well, perhaps, obviously this is not the only candy product.
So Hers, she's based on the popularity of their reeses
shapes like like pumpkins and stuff. Hershe's is offering some
other shaped candies. They've got some ghost shaped Twizzlers, shoes,
(06:29):
and some kit Cat counts like vampire counts.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
That's fun to say kit cat counts. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Part of why I love all of this is that,
like I like, I don't understand. It's that the Halloween
episode that we're also working on is about trig or treating.
And part of the thing that I don't that the
delights me and that I absolutely don't understand is how
America has taken the idea of death and dying and
the unrest of the soul and it's turned it into
(07:02):
this cutesye thing. It's like, oh man, sometimes the souls
of the deceased are doomed to walk the earth forever.
Here's a Twizzler shaped like that.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yes, yes, I think about this often. In fact, I
talked to my mom about it. It's just it feels
like a time of year where there is this very
obviously capitalistic thing that's happening, but there's also kind of
a tongue in cheek. Yes, we're all gonna die. Put
(07:38):
this skeleton outside of the funny hat on. It's just
a kind of a bizarre juxtaposition of this macabre thing.
But also we're really having fun with it. And then
the season just adds to it because it's getting darker earlier,
it's cooler, the leaves are changing colors at least where
(07:59):
we are. Yeah, it's a very and then you're handing
out candy. I love it. I think it's very strange
and I love it. It's and it's so capitalist here.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
And also did you say macabre?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, my sweet dude, it's definitely macabre. Oh I learned
something every day.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah yeah, thank you French. But okay, but so getting
back into our list here. The Eminem's brand started doing
promotion back in twenty twenty three called the Halloween Rescue
Squad And this is an affiliation with gopuff, the delivery service.
So like in some areas wall supplies last, you can
(08:47):
call in an emergency candy bowl refill on Halloween night
and they will show up at your house with candy
and give it to you for free. I think which
is which is nice? This year they hired Nookie for
their ads. I don't know, objectively true sentences that are
weird to say out loud.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Sure that is. That's an odd one. Uh, all right,
I'll have to process that one later, all right. Burger King.
Burger King just had a tie in menu with the
Netflix show Wednesday. But now they have debuted their monster menu,
(09:30):
inspired by famous monsters. So we've got the Jack o
Lantern Whopper, which is a whopper but with an orange bun,
orange buns and black sesame seeds. Mummy mozzarella fries, which
are served in a package that's very cute. It's decorated
like a mummy. Yeah yeah, yeah. Vampire Nuggets, which are
chicken nuggets that are shaped like bats and fangs and
(09:53):
served in a container shaped like a coffin, A frank in,
a frank and candy sun Day a layered purple and
white Sunday topped with purple and green popping candy. Again,
it's kind of funny, like, eat out of this coffin.
You're chipping kids, all right, surely I will. Why wouldn't I?
(10:16):
It's cute, it's adorable. M oh okay, I actually really
like the art of these. The Coca Cola Company is
bringing back Fanta's Halloween collection and this is collaboration with
Blumhouse and Universal Pictures, and the cans feature these horror
(10:37):
movie icons. Uh huh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
The tagline is there back and they want a Fanta.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Absolutely it is all right. So here are the flavors
and the representative characters. We've got Freddie Fosbear on Fanta
Orange and Fanta Orange zero Sugar.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
That's from Five Nights at Freddy's. Yeah, yes, yeah, which
we talked about playing forever ago. Lauren, I know, and
we have not done it. I have not seen you
have a mini breakdown over it. Another thing add it
to the list.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, that will definitely make our feast very exciting, especially
if we've eaten beforehand. Oh no, oh no, indeed. Then
Michael Myers on Pineapple okay, the Grabber on Strawberry, the
grabber from the Black Black Phone. Yeah, okay, Chucky, which
(11:39):
Chucky is on a brand new flavor fruit punch with
a twist. And it's what's the twist? I from what
I read from reviews, it sounds like it's a citrus
kind of oh like a like a like a like
literally with a twist. Yeah, that's what it sounds like. Yeah,
(12:01):
people are reviewing these things, by the way, if you
want to look up like everything we're talking about, people
have thoughts. Oh yeah, some yes, Some theaters and Universal
Theme Parks are offering Megan themed Fanta Grape sodas as well. Okay,
and they also released a short horror game along with
this theme called The Haunted Factory.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, it's it's it's an app game, like I think
it's a little like side scroller set in a haunted
soda factory. The West Coast fast food chain Jack in
the Box also has a halloweeny app game out where
it's menu items come to life and you have to
defeat them. I have not I've not played it, but
(12:44):
but but both of these app games are are based
around like winning like coupon codes and like all the
other small prizes.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah. I have seen a lot a lot of this
with what we're talking about, is companies coming out with
short games where they can where people can win prizes.
Interesting m HM, nineteen crimes. The Wine brand is also
partnering with Universal Pictures with Glow and the Dark labels
(13:11):
of Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and the Mummy.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, it seems like a lot of brands are leaning
into like classic movie monster vibes this year. Not not
sure what that's about in the zeitgeist, but kind of related.
Lee Hines is doing a Halloween themed product in some
of their markets. I'm not sure which ones exactly, but
it's it's a black colored mayonnaise flavored with black garlic,
(13:39):
and the ad for it is very based in like
old like black and white horror film imagery and plays
off of the concept that ketchup can be used as
fake blood, which the brand is previously played with three promotions,
like selling ketchup labeled tomato blood back in like one
(14:01):
It's fun.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, their ad does have a vampire eating this garlic mayo,
which I think, which I think is a slight misstep,
but that's okay.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
We should write in and let them know. Not that
I'm saying that I'm offended for personal reasons, of course. Not. No,
of course not, Lauren. Let's talk about some donuts.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Sure, okay, So Duncan debuted It's Spider Donut back in
twenty seventeen, which is this real cute little like yeast
ring donut with some kind of colorful frosting, either orange
or purple, and a spider formed by plopping a chocolate
munchkin donut hole in the center, with like little white
(14:50):
frosting eyes and little chocolate icing legs out across the
rest of the doughnut. It's super cute if you haven't
seen it. But there's now there's now doughnut spider merch,
including a munchkin bucket that you can use as a
trigg or treat pail. And this year they are doing
a candy bar latte for Halloween. It's a hotter iced
(15:12):
an espresso drink with chocolate, toffee and peanut butter syrups,
topped with whipped cream and candy pieces.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
I think that would kill me, that m drink. Then
that would be a death sentence for me.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I that sounds like an immediate headache. I feel I can. Yeah,
I'm a little hypoglycemic, so like I cannot that. I'm
sure that someone listening to this is like, that is
exactly my bag. I've already had nineteen of them and
they're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Oh
and if that's you. I'm so happy for you. Yes,
(15:49):
I am too, but I would spike and crash and
be the worst person.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Oh, it would not be good for me. No, no, no, nope.
The more I read it, the more events that would
not be good.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Krispy Kream also does have themed donuts, including a haunted
house themed donut called the Cookies and Scream. This is
a yeast donut with the cookies and cream filling, a topping,
and a topping that's made to look like a like
a haunted house on a hill. It's got like chocolate
icing and then chocolate cookie crumbles and that's kind of
(16:29):
the ground, and then a little purple squiggle to sort
of delineate the hill, and then a little painted candy
piece depicting a house with this really chipper little ghost.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Good for you ghosts, Yeah yeah, just because haunting ghost
is having a good time.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Right right, Just because you're stuck on this mortal plane
doesn't mean you have to have a bad time about it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
No, Sometimes you're on donuts it I hope that's not
offensive to the guns. Un live it up, do whatever
you need to, whatever it is, whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Well, we do have some more weird stuff for you here.
But first we've got a quick break for a word
from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank you sponsors.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
And yeah, all right, so we've got to talk about gushers.
This was the inspiration for me for this episode.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah. Yeah, Annie told me about this, and I was like,
do we need to do a Halloween tie in episode?
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Like I had to know more. I had to I'm
just realizing though, that some people might not know what
gushers are. They're still around. I think they're still popular,
but they're, you know, kind of a nineties classic snack there.
They're like really colorful fruit snacks that had this equally
colorful gel stuff inside.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah. Yeah, it's like a normal chewy fruit snack and
then on the inside as a slightly liquid bit.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Yeah yeah, it's the gusher. Yeah. And they are doing
a couple of things this Halloween. First, they're offering a
relatively normal tie in with Wednesday the show the Blueberry
Grape Despair flavor. Yes. But secondly, okay, and more weirdly,
(18:38):
way more weirdly, yeah, way more weirdly. They released a
horror short film called Fruit Hit, directed by Mike Diva
and starring Bradley Whitford as a commercial director and Chester
Collins as a young actor. And the plot is that
Collins starred in a Gusher's commercial that was directed by
(19:00):
Whitford when Collins was a kid, and he got pre
permanently turned into a fruit head, a very scary looking
fruit head, and is now an adult looking for revenge.
And it turns out spoilers, Whitford's character cursed a bag
of gushers to find success in his career. Of course,
(19:24):
you've got to curse the bag of gusher why yeah,
why not? That's obvious. That's how we all made it
in this industry, right, That's what I did. Yeah. I
hope none of you can find my secret bag of
cursed gushers or I'll be in big trouble. Okay, So.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
For anyone who is not watching TV commercials in the
nineteen nineties, Annie, can you break this down a little bit?
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Okay, yes, as much as I can, because if you
haven't seen it, it's it's kind of hard to describe.
But yes, this whole thing was a parody of nineties
commercials that depicted kids' heads turning into very bizarre and
unnerving fruit shapes after eating a.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Gusher, so like the you would eat a gusher and
like your entire head would kind of explode out into
like a giant grape shape or strawberry shape or whatever,
you know whatever.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Yeah, and this is nineties graphics. You've still got the
smiling face of the kid on there. It was very,
very unsettling. And even the reason the ad executive said
they did this is that people still talk about how
they can't forget this. They saw it as a kid
(20:46):
and they still remember. I still remember them too, and
I was very young. They're just they do they paint
an image and it sticks in your brain.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Oh yeah, yeah, I had forgotten about it. But as
soon as yeah, as soon as you said it, I
was like, oh right, oh right, you know you buried
it deep.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah. Well, as part of the promotion, people dressed as
creepy oranges and they haunted a bookstore in New York
for one day only. Yes, and if listeners, if you
saw this, please, oh my goodness, let us know. And
(21:34):
the short film debuted at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival,
and from what I understand, gushers were available at the screening,
so you could eat gushers and then worry that you
might become become a frudhead. Yeah, I love. Yes, you
can watch it online obviously they want you to see it.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
It's a fing thing. But yeah, yeah, yeah, no I
need to go do that. Yeah. So one that we
missed last year because again this is the first time
that we've done this is last year, Chipotle teamed up
with Spirit Halloween, the costume company, to release these adult
(22:14):
sized body suits printed with like Chipotle restaurant themed designs
so that you could more easily be a foil wrapped
burrito or a Chipotle to go bag or a black
plastic fork for Halloween. The costumes are no longer available
(22:36):
on Spirit's website, I'm sad to say, but you can
in fact find them secondhand on sites like eBay.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yes, I checked. You know what I want to go
as this year, honey, A black plastic fork. Not not
sparky from story, just a regular old black plastic Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
The images, the images are pretty funny because the person
wearing the fork costume is just like their head is
the center tye and they're holding up their other two
arms as the other times, and it's just it's just
a black bodysuit.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
That's all it is. So it requires an arm workout.
That's the best kind of costume you can get. Oh man,
is that people are like, what are you? And then
you raise both your arms or else They'll never know.
They'll never know. Yeah. Another thing that we missed last.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Year is that Airheads. You know the chewy fruit candy. Yeah,
they did a free giveaway of cherry candy scented foot
deodorizer that came in a spray can built to look
like a disembodied foot. Oh, Airheads, yeah, Airheads Yeah, so's
(24:03):
there was a lot going on in that sentence. It's
possible that you have questions for answers, we must turn
to a classic Halloween invocation from the nineteen eighties to nineties,
which goes trick or treat, smell my feet, give me
something good to eat. Wow, you gotta hand it to them.
(24:29):
M I was never expecting that deep cut. Yeah, I
was like, oh, okay. Airheads, Yeah, that's sure.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Would have loved to been in on that meeting.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
They are a brand that kind of leans into that
like roller rank nostalgia from the era. So yeah, I'm
gonna have to look that up. Okay, m oh, it's
it's beautiful. It is a bright red rubber foot spray can,
(25:00):
and it says smell my feet on it. And it's
really inscrutable. The poor human is signed to talk to
write about it on Food and Wine Magazine's website had
no idea what was going on.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
I think that's completely legitimate. I think that's how are
we to grapple with the fact that this exists. I
don't know, but we must go on. And this brings
us to our final entry. Not strictly Halloween related, but
(25:37):
I would argue it is adjacent. Taco Bell is currently
offering a Y two K menu, so if any listeners
are too young to know what Y two K is.
It was when on the eve of the year two thousand,
we were all afraid that the computers would fail because
(25:58):
there is no year zero would get to zero and
just and we were buying up all the water and
preparing for the end of the world all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Fun fact, the panic was at its root well founded,
because like there was a very real possibility that a
whole lot of computer systems that did, even that long ago,
very important things for our society were going to fail.
And the only reason that nothing happened. Is that a
lot of people put in a lot of hard work
to make sure that nothing happened. Coordinated implementation of a
(26:32):
solution to a problem. What more generally, though, because I
and I think that so you're thinking of a very
specific corner of Y two K, I strongly believe that
they're not angling at the panic. I like that your
brain went there. I'm concerned, but I appreciate it. But like,
(26:56):
more generally, around the turn of the millennium, you know,
we had this whole esthetic of like pop futurism, you know,
like everything was just big and bright. In fashion that
translated to you know, like the super wide leg jeans
and puff fabrics and metallics and bright primary or pastel colors,
(27:18):
and in food it meant these kind of silly excesses
of like punches of flavor and texture.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yes, So when it comes to this menu that Taco
Bell has brought back, it's items from what they offered
in two thousand, like the caramel apple and Panada cool
Ranch to Rito's Locos Tacos, seven layer burrito, double decker taco,
and chili cheese burrito. And yeah, the announcement and press
(27:51):
materials are all very two thousand. They're very bright blue
and yellow.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
I looked this up and I was physically unprepared for
the giant wedge of baby blue eyeshadow that one of
the models is wearing, or for the for the bright
yellow like goggle style sunglasses that a young fellow is wearing.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
I was just like, I like recoiled from my computer screen.
See horrifying it. Well, Lauren, if you haven't looked up.
They also released limited edition two thousands fashions item no
fashion items, and they are shocking, Lauren, A shocking. I
(28:36):
don't I love that? No, No, I think you do.
And they had a two thousands theme party in La
DJ by Little John and they have a digital pet
named Crunchkin, who is very similar, Like, you earn points
and you can maybe get a free what have you? Okay,
(28:57):
like like a little uh yes, because we used to
that was a big thing too. We had little digital pits. Yeah. Yeah.
But here's a note from Taco Bell's press release about
this whole thing. Why two K wasn't just a moment,
it was a lifestyle. I mean that's accurate, that's not
(29:19):
inaccurate at all. It's true. And when we were discussing why.
I personally think this is related to Halloween. There is
kind of the generational horror of realizing when you grew
up it's now a costume. Yeah. Also there's a horror
movie called Why two K so that is based on
(29:43):
the computer situation. But oh my goodness, yeah yeah, that's
uh huh yeah. I again, if you want to I
believe all these items are available at Taco Bell's nation.
Why they kind of did a slow release, But if
you're like, I don't know if I want to go
(30:04):
try them. There are a lot of reviews about oh
yeah items, so you can find From what I understand,
the chili cheese burrito seems to be that in the
Apple and Panada people are really into I think people
like the cool red Strito's Locos tacos, but the they
were saying it get soggy too fast. But I mean,
(30:24):
if you've got opinions, I personally would love to hear them.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Oh yeah, yeah. I didn't like get into Taco Bell
until actually super producer Andrew introduced it to me, so
like within the past like five years. Uh So I
never consumed any of those when they were originally out,
and but I remember hearing all of those words and
(30:51):
I and I guess I was surprised they're not still.
I was like, oh, there's went away, Okay, cool, Well
here we are.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Yeah. They all seemed very beloved, but Taco Bells got
to keep on top of the trends. They do they do.
Oh there's crunch traps. Man. I liked the sent a twist.
I don't know if they offer those anymore. No, I'm
not sure. I was a hard taco girl at all.
(31:20):
Everyone else in my family was a soft taco mmm.
So I always had to fight. I had to beat
my peace did That's why they have the combo boxes.
I think they're just trying to make me, make me
argue my side of it, which I did. Uh. Well,
(31:43):
this has been really fun. We've said before that we
kind of feel like in this country, even though it
seems we're maybe the only ones with Canada perhaps doing
chick or treating, we don't have the same promotions other
countries do around so this was fun to look into.
(32:03):
But we would love to hear from listeners what you
have seen wherever you are.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Oh and goodness, yes, and if you want to wait
until our episode comes out, then and hear and respond
to that, then do that. But if you have insider
information about trigger treating anywhere else, we would love to hear.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It absolutely in the meantime, if you would, If you
do enjoy Halloween, Happy Halloween. Yeah, yes, and you can
email us at hello at saberpod dot com. We're also
on social media.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
saber pod, and we do hope to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Savor is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.