Trick or Treat: Thrilling marketing campaigns that have backfired, & those that have worked a treat

From killer clown sightings to potentially disturbing love letters – marketers have gone above and beyond over the years to try and captivate audiences and promote their brands. But not all ideas go down a treat with audiences.

In our Halloween Special, Click Consult dives into some of the most thrilling marketing campaigns of all time. We’ll explore the campaigns that captivated and engaged audiences (treats), and also those that went horribly wrong (tricks).

Trick: Killer Clowns (2016)

There is some debate about when clowns shifted from loveable circus performers, to the scary horror staple we love to hate – but nobody can deny that the killer clown epidemic of 2016 was no less than terrifying.

Sightings of people dressed in clown costumes lurking in dark street corners began surfacing online. There were reports that this allegedly began as a guerilla marketing campaign for either the film adaptation of Stephen King’s IT which was released in theatres the following year, or a short film entitled Gags. Regardless, it wasn’t long before sightings of other clowns unrelated to these two film projects began surfacing – and reports of clown attacks, and even a stabbing occurred as a result of this.

Whilst the campaign certainly caught attention, and obtained a lot of viral activity on social media we cannot ignore that people were mentally and physically hurt as a result – meaning this campaign would have to fall into the Trick category on this occasion.

Treat: Scream (1996) - false protagonist

Already a well-known and popular actress, Drew Barrymore was originally cast to play the main female protagonist of the hugely successful horror series Scream (1996), Sidney Prescott. Due to scheduling constraints with other projects, however, Drew Barrymore had to step down from the leading role.

While some may have seen the loss of their popular lead actress as a downfall, the marketers for Scream took this as an opportunity. They continued to heavily promote Barrymore as the lead protagonist in the film, featuring her character front and centre on all of the promotional materials – only to have her character killed in the opening scenes of the film.

This not only enticed audiences by promoting an already well-known and loved actress as their leading character, but captivated them during the film and the following franchise, keeping audiences on edge knowing that none of their beloved characters were safe from Ghostface.

This campaign was an obvious success, with the Scream franchise still making films almost 3 decades later. We certainly believe that this campaign deserves to fall under the Treat category in this list.

Trick: Fiat’s disturbing confessions of love (1994)

In 1994 car maker Fiat created a campaign to promote their latest model of the Fiat 500. With their target audience being mostly women, Fiat decided to send out 50,000 anonymous love letters to women across the country – with no indicators to suggest that the letters had come from a brand, or were part of any promotional marketing activity.

The letters contained messages such as:

“Yesterday we saw each other again. We met on the street and I noticed how you glanced interestedly in my direction,”

 

“I only need to be with you for a couple of minutes, and even if it doesn’t work out, I promise you won’t forget our little experience together.”

 

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m in love with you.”

They intended to follow up four days later with a brochure, and an invitation to the nearest Fiat store…but (unsurprisingly) the campaign did not have the intended effect. In the four days between the first and second letters women all across the country were feeling anxious and tense, reports of stalkers were made to the police, and some women even refused to leave their houses.

With serious stalker vibes, traumatising women, and even sparking jealousy and infidelity rumours amongst couples – this campaign unfortunately falls under the Trick category on this occasion.

Treat: Smile (2022 & 2024) - baseball smilers

In 2022 several baseball games went viral on social media – and the reasons had nothing to do with the game or the players. On several instances, people could be seen in the crowd with unwavering, wide, disturbing smiles on their faces, and wearing bright yellow t-shirts with the word SMILE across the front.

The new horror movie “Smile” is marketing itself by having actors infiltrate MLB games
Paramount placed these actors in the crowd at recent baseball games and had them stand motionless, and smile throughout the entire game, directly at the broadcast cameras. pic.twitter.com/1km8ZFcH1l

— (@alilmoonn) September 28, 2022

People took notice of this, sharing tweets, pictures, and videos of these individuals on social media – unaware that this was actually part of a wider promotional campaign for the upcoming movie Smile (2022).

Following the success of the campaign in 2022, and with the sequel to the first film having launched earlier this month, they recently relaunched the campaign, with more smilers spotted at baseball games.

@bleacherreport (via @MLBonFOX) #mlb #baseball #scary #creepy Scary Loop – Bleacher Report

With two successful campaigns run across two separate years, we certainly believe this campaign deserves to fall into the ‘treat’ category.

Treat: Scream (2022) - fictional TikTok account

Marketing is clearly something the minds behind the Scream franchise do well. 26 years following the release of the original film, Scream released the 5th film in their franchise; leveraging the popularity of the viral social media platform TikTok, Scream created an account for a fabricated teen character who lived in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California where the Scream films take place.

@toobrashsarah Introducing Me! Hi, I’m Sarah. #introducingme #fyp #ad #screammovie #paramount original sound – TooBrAshSarah

The TikTok account known as @toobrashsarah originally began posting TikToks taking part in trends, or challenges – using the app in the same way as other similar-aged teenagers. Eventually, the TikTok account started reporting on the ‘murders’ occurring in her town, and creating TikToks discussing potential suspects – which gave the audience some insight into the characters that would be appearing in the new film.

@toobrashsarah Reply to @iactuallyhateyogurt New developments! #savewoodsboro #screammovie #ad #paramount original sound – TooBrAshSarah

As the fictional story continued through a series of TikToks, the final post showed Sarah losing her phone on the way to a party – and the phone eventually being picked up by Ghostface himself!

@toobrashsarah Can’t wait to see Ash! #savewoodsboro #screammovie #ad #paramount original sound – TooBrAshSarah

You can watch all of ‘Sarah’s’ TikTok’s here.