No, you have not woken up from a coma to find out that it’s October, and you missed several months of your life. In honor of Halfway to Halloween, Mars has already announced their lineup for this year’s Halloween candy. And with two new items, plus some returning faves, there’s a little something for everyone.
"At Mars, we celebrate Halloween every day, all year long," said Tim LeBel, Chief Halloween Officer and President of Sales at Mars Wrigley North America via a press release provided to Guilty Eats. "Our 2024 Mars Wrigley Halloween product line-up is a direct reflection of our consumer obsession and offers a playful blend of taste, creativity and on-trend seasonal offerings to deliver products we know will end up in the 'good' pile on Halloween night."
So what can one expect from this year’s Mars treats that will be in stores in (checks calendar again) six-ish months? Here’s the full line-up, per the company:
- NEW! M&M'S® Milk Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
- NEW! Redesigned SNICKERS® Pumpkins packaging
- Mars Wrigley mixed variety bags, with offerings like gummy and chocolate together
- TWIX® Ghoulish Green
- SNICKERS® Ghoulish Green
- M&M'S® Ghouls blend in Milk Chocolate, Peanut and Peanut Butter
- SNICKERS® Fun Size Bucket
Here’s my erudite breakdown of that lineup, as an expert in the field of Halloween Candy (I didn’t go to Candy College for six years for no reason!!) First of all, we’ve got the new M&Ms, with “pumpkin pie” flavoring. Sounds good! I’m curious to see how much of the pumpkin comes through, and will assume until proven otherwise it’s mostly pumpkin pie spice flavored.
That’s the end of my expert analysis! I’m always a fan of the green candies that have taken over the Halloween Candy aisle, and find that preferable to pumpkin shapes (which usually look like lumps) and packaging, which is… Fun? I guess? I would rather have the “trick” of opening a Twix to find out they’re spooky green, than just, you know, Twix.
Along with the reveal of the product line, Mars also released a Tricks, treats, and Trends report that breaks down Halloween candy buying behavior. It’s pretty interesting, and you can read it in full for yourself, but a few highlights:
- Candy, not getting buried alive by the haunted ghosts of your ancestors, is the “number one contributor to a positive Halloween experience.”
- According to a data point that made me laugh out loud, 85% of Halloween celebrators plan to “go bigger” this year. The data doesn’t note this, but I assume the other 15% are planning to “go home.”
- Less funny and more interesting, 55% of consumers look for variety bags that contain both fruity and chocolate candies.
- 75% prefer fun-size candies, which seems inaccurate given everyone prefers the house with the full-size candy bars, but what do I know, I only went to Candy College for six years.
There’s a lot more on the report, so go check that out. And in the meantime, please leave me alone, I need to start planning for Halloween. In June.