Dare To Scare

Party City, a long-standing perennial favorite for party supplies and celebrations, was in danger of losing its grip on its most profitable season, Halloween. They needed to reclaim their position as America’s go-to retailer by putting themselves (and their products) front and center during the spooky season. So they threw themselves into the spirit of Halloween to position themselves as an unexpectedly terrifying destination for all things Halloween.

Titled “Dare to Scare,” our campaign tapped into a core insight for the season: our Halloween-obsessed customers were driven by two things: 1. Bragging rights for their creativity and 2. Sharing their creativity online. We grabbed onto their social behavior and zoned in on the glee people feel when they succeed in scaring others. We filmed real-time moments of people shocking and terrifying unsuspecting friends, family, coworkers, and even their pets. Our campaign showcased some of the more outlandish (and frightening) uses for Party City products with three films: shocking unsuspecting elevator-goers in “Hellevator,” jump-scare decorations in “Scopaesthesia,” and waiting room mayhem in “Contagion.” The talent for the videos were all unsuspecting people hired to participate in “market research” and then were surprised (and delighted!) with terrifying scenes using Party City products. Party City didn’t just dare others to scare people, Party City dared to scare the world and showcased the breadth of their offering while they did it.