Dare To Scare

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

Our campaign didn’t stop with video. Party City partnered with Buzzfeed to tease and announce the campaign, with HGTV crafting a custom advertorial, with Pinterest to create a 360 Shoppable unit, and with influencers to help consumers get into the spooky spirit! And to ensure consumers were being as spooky as possible, we encouraged customers to try their own elaborate scares. Participants who uploaded their videos to social were entered to win one of over $10,000 worth of prizes, including a $500 Party City giftcard, a year’s supply of Tombstone pizza and a trip for two to Savannah, GA – one of America’s most haunted cities – for some scary-good fun.

Finally, we created ScaryAI – a ChatGPT-powered tool to help make decor and costume planning easier for those who need extra creative inspiration, and more efficient for the power party planners.