On Madison Avenue, Halloween Is Time For Billy Mays, Burger King, Geico Caveman

October 28, 2009: Halloween is upon us, and so are the clairvoyant surveys that seek to predict the future and tell us today what people will wear on Oct. 31.

First Call, the celebrity and activation division of sports and entertainment marketing firm Octagon, McLean, Va., took a different approach: They surveyed 200 marketers and asked them which costumes relating to marketing, advertising and promotions they would most like to see.

Among the results:

Brand Character/Spokesman:

14% said Billy Mays
13% said Geico Caveman
7% said Geico Gecko
5% said Michelin Man
5% said Burger King's King

Other brands with votes included: Chik-fil-A cow, the Mac & PC Guys, Kool-Aid Man, M&M’s, Pillsbury Doughboy.
 
Licensed Kids Characters:
22% Hannah Montana
13% Dora the Explorer
9% Where the Wild Things Are
 
Celebrity Mistake/Tragedy
17% Kanye
15% Michael Jackson
12% Jon & Kate Gosselin

"Brands should pay attention to these surveys and officially license [the character spokesmen named here as] Halloween costumes," said David Schwab, managing director for First Call. "Consumers would pay $30 instead of making them on their own and the companies can profit from it , too.”

According to Schwab, this concept is so easy even a caveman could do it. “Geico has done an incredible job of branding their name and their logos. One out of 5 consumers mentioned a Geico product." However, Schwab warned, “Using deceased people in advertising is a delicate slope. The infomercials with Billy Mays continue to work whereas the DirecTV spot with Chris Farley creative is in bad taste.”

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