Happy Halloween!
Agencies and brands are always fond of scare tactics at this time of year. We've been tracking some of 2016's better Halloween pranks—check them out below.
We'll be updating this post as the day goes on.
• Asda
This very cute spot from Saatchi & Saatchi London shows a young werewolf who wants to be something else for Halloween—a zombie-skeleton-glow-in-the-dark-Frankenstein-ninja.
• Boost Mobile
Get some 360-degree scares from Boost Mobile with this video footage, which the brand claims was "found on a Boost Mobile phone on October 29, 2016." Agency: 1 Trick Pony.
• Burger King
As we noted last week, a BK in Queens (with help from ad agency David Miami) dressed up as McDonald's for Halloween—the most frightening costume it could imagine.
• Denizen
Content company Denizen and its entertainment division, Hello Denizen, had a hit with their "Tiny Hamsters Eating Tiny Burritos" video. In this new episode, hamsters rise from the grave and turn into a frenzied gang of furry, flesh eating zombies.
• El Jimador Tequila
Grey Canada created this digital campaign to help el Jimador tequila celebrate Day of the Dead, the multi-day Mexican holiday that starts Nov. 1 and honors relatives who have died. The stop-motion ads feature fun-loving skeletons who aren't ready to stop celebrating the annual holiday.
• Giffgaff
This U.K. mobile provider urges you to "end the nightmare" of two-year contracts in this impressive spot, in which a woman is stuck in a series of frightening horror tropes. The spot was created in-house, with Tom Rainsford of Riff Raff Films directing.
• Kit Kat
The candy brand has made a few Halloween ads this year. One shows you how to fend off a homicidal maniac in the forest. Another had Chance the Rapper doing a little Halloween candy shopping—and doing his version of the 30-year-old jingle.
• R/GA
Everyone at the agency dressed up as CEO Bob Greenberg today.
• State Farm
DDB New York made a spooky pair of Halloween ads for State Farm The "Scary Right" campaign will make your heart beat fast, and your palms sweat … until a State Farm representative is there to help.
• Svedka
The vodka brand launched a campaign depicting the most horrific things that could happen to a millennial during the Halloween season. Agency: Bensimon Byrne.
• Tomcat
The pest control company is doing a Facebook Live at 2 p.m. ET on Halloween, in which users will be able to choose how to kill a bunch of (already dead) rodents.
• WD-40
As we mentioned earlier, WD-40 and agency BIMM did a great campaign centered on an app that makes your doors creakier for Halloween.
• Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam
W+K Amsterdam has created Bitmap Banshees, a VR thriller game installation housed inside the agency's public gallery space. Bitmap Banshees is set inside a future dystopian Amsterdam, where a gang of biker banshees have taken over the city and are out to get you. You sit on a custom Mad-Max-style bike (which acts as the gaming interface) and navigate a psychedelic-science-fiction-slash-B-grade-horror-frogger reality, and try to survive the banshees as long as possible. The game will also be available online in the coming months.