The calendar, as any candy marketer will tell you, is not so much a neutral record of passing days as it is a series of retail opportunities separated by inconvenient gaps. Mars, the privately held confectionery giant, has decided to close one such gap with a character called Zombie Claus, who exists to blur the line between Halloween and Christmas in service of selling more Twix bars.
The campaign, now in its second year, is built around a manufactured holiday called Hallowmas — a portmanteau that sounds like something a copywriter might propose after their third coffee. The concept is tied to Twix's longstanding brand platform, "Two Is More Than One," which refers to the two cookie bars in each package and which has now been extended to mean that two holidays are also better than one. (Whether consumers were clamoring for this particular innovation remains unclear.)
The hero spot, created by adam&eveTBWA and produced by Rouge Films, features Zombie Claus arriving at a teenager's door shouting seasonal greetings. The teenager, displaying the skepticism appropriate to her generation, asks whether she should be "merry or terrified" or "sing a carol or bludgeon with a bat." It is the kind of self-aware humor that has become standard in confectionery advertising, where the product is never quite the point.
The campaign kicked off with an appearance on Subway Takes, a branded content series where Zombie Claus discussed the importance of second impressions with the host, Kareem Rahma. Publicis Media handled the media partnerships; Weber Shandwick managed public relations and a consumer competition with a $20,000 prize pool.
"By bringing Halloween and Christmas together through Zombie Claus, we're creating a season that delivers twice the fun, fright and festive spirit," said Allison Miazga-Bedrick, vice president of marketing for Mars's seasonal portfolio, in a statement.
The campaign will conclude on Halloween, when Zombie Claus will distribute Twix bars in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — a neighborhood that has seen stranger things.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Twix Doubles Down on Hallowmas, Bringing Back Zombie Claus for More Fright and Cheer"