Best Halloween Packaging and Advertising for 2010 (part 1)

I love packaging. Packaging makes the world go around. History has shown that great graphics can sell even the worst items. You doubt me? Well, just take a look at your local movie theater and all those sweet posters. Chances are good that the poster will be much better than the movie it represents.

As a collector, I am always drawn to great packaging and have been known to buy items just for the box that contains them. As a graphic designer, I tend to think I know a little bit about what works and what doesn’t in regards to the making of a great package.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have scoured my local grocery stores and big box stores, as well as some fast food chains to bring you my personal favorite examples of Halloween-centric campaigns on store shelves now. So, grab a soda and some Dum Dums and prepare to ride a sugar high with me on this great halloween adventure…

Hostess Snacks

If you’re a pop-culture fan, you have to love these guys — Batman, Superman, Flash, and the Green Lantern snack cakes! I have no idea why these are a Halloween promotion, but it says so right on the box, so it must be true:

As a collector, these packages appeal to me because they have the DC heroes on them. I’m a Batman and Superman collector, so these boxes would fit right in on my shelf. I’m not a Flash or Green Lantern collector, but how can you resist those GloBalls? You can’t! That box could very well turn into a highly-sought after collectible package due to the amazingly bad/great product name.

Doritos and Cheetos

Doritos and Cheetos. Doritos and Cheetos. I could say that all day, but I won’t. These packages are sold in a big box, intended to hand out to the kiddies on Halloween night. I think if I was a kid, the great package art would lessen the snub of not getting something carved out of sugar. I love the Chester Cheetah riding a broomstock on the Cheetos bag, but the Doritos bags are not nearly as festive. You might even miss the fact that they show a haunted house unless you look closely.

A few months ago, there was a guy in England who was offered a “fortune” for his collection of vintage potato chip bags. Amazingly, no one else thought to collect the disposable bags and, living in the nostalgia-fueled era that we do now, someone wanted to buy his whole lot. Who knows, maybe that Chester Cheetah bag will be a rare collectible some day.

Quaker Chewy Granola Bars

I was really surprised how many of the big food companies seemed to take a pass on Halloween marketing altogether this year. I’ll give the folks at Quaker a solid C+ for effort. These mini granola bars have a a fairly generic clip-arty box. It’s okay — not too memorable, but at least they tried.

The individually-wrapped bars would be a nice treat in the candy bucket since chocolate is chocolate, but as a kid, once I saw that old Quaker guy this would have been tossed to dear old dad.

Dots

The packaging for the Dots candy is by far one of my favorites this year. The colors and the artwork just nail the Halloween feel perfectly. In addition to the Bat Dots, there are Ghost Dots and Candy Corn Dots. The designers of these packages did a great job in filling the whole cover with vibrant colors and graphics that make these jump off the shelf and into your shopping cart. Great job!

I’ll be doing a couple more of these posts over the next few days, so come on back and see what other Halloween goodies I found lurking on store shelves.