Hershey basing its Halloween ad on COVID-19

Candymaker Hershey Co will come up with a COVID-19-based Halloween marketing strategy in partnership with Google that will tailor digital ads to households.

A key part of the marketing strategy is convincing people that it is no longer essential to celebrate Halloween by going out while not alienating those who plan to continue trick-or-treating.

Thus, some social media videos and clips will feature people eating chocolate candies in their backyards or living rooms.

But in places where people tend to go out, ads will feature mask-clad kids and adults going door-to-door to ask for candy.

The Pennsylvania-based candymaker will access Google's data to determine where people are more likely to go out.

The data, which Hershey says is completely anonymous, will show only the data points of unnamed users.

Another key message candy makers are pushing is for shoppers to buy candy for Halloween-at-home three months before the event.

Hershey plans to boost digital media spending on Halloween by 160 percent versus last year, targeting mainly e-commerce shoppers.

Halloween is the candy industry’s biggest holiday season by sales, followed by Christmas, Easter, and Valentine’s Day.

For Hershey, which relies on trick-or-treating for about half of its Halloween sales, the season represents a tenth of its $8 billion in annual sales.