Clever Creative: Truly Horror-ble Ads

Posted Friday October 20^th, 2017 by Caitlin Artigliere in Creativity + Art.

Halloween is a time for candy and all things scary. Sure you might be decorating your house with glittered pumpkins or dressing up as Wonder Woman this year, but you can’t celebrate this spooky season without watching at least one great slasher horror film. You’re also probably stocking up on the candy you’ll be reluctantly giving away on Halloween night, which means candy companies will be ramping up their advertising efforts in order to get you to buy their big bags of bite sized sweets. In today’s “Clever Creative,” we’ll look at one company that has decided to forgo the product shots in order to give us some truly horror-ble ads.

Mars Candy Brands: “Bite Size Horror”

As a kid, did your mom ever tell you not to eat too much candy before bed because it will give you nightmares? Well, these ads will make you believe in that old wives’ tale as Mars Candy Brands teams up with FOX Networks and up-and-coming horror directors to remind us that bite sized candy bars and horror movies are what Halloween is all about. These 2-minute “bite size horror” films are able to create that same creepy and spine-chillingly feeling you get when watching a full-length movie, and they left us wanting more. However, it’s not just their scary-factor that makes them the best Halloween ads we’ve ever seen, it’s their uniqueness.

The typical Halloween ad is all about showing the product. Department store ads will show off the different decorations, costumes and candies they are offering and include their prices to get you to choose their store over others. Other candy company ads usually show kids trick-or-treating or just the products alone. But, the only time you see the Mars Candy Brands products in these ads are at the beginning when it is used as a “curtain” the rises or parts to show us the films. As we’ve mentioned before in some of our other blogs, it’s not necessary to push the product into every shot of a commercial. If you’re able to make a really creative and amazing ad, then chances are people will remember what it was for, without having the product shoved directly in their face.

These ads are more like nightmares brought to the small screen than product promotions. Candy and scary movies make up the foundation of Halloween, which is why we loved the pairing so much. Mars Candy Brands brought together these two complementary items in order to create some truly horror-ble ads that will be remembered for many sleepless nights and Halloweens to come.

Let us know what you think of these ads, and be on the lookout for next week’s installment of Clever Creative!

If you’re looking for some clever creative of your own, feel free to contact us.

Clever Creative: Truly Horror-ble Ads

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