Mars Spooktacular Trends Report Unwraps Halloween Fun as 78% of Canadians Get Ready to Celebrate

Mars Wrigley Canada appoints ‘Minister of Trick or Treat’ for Halloween season

BOLTON, ON, Oct. 15, 2024 /CNW/ – As the pumpkins get carved and costumes come to life, Mars is gearing up to make Halloween 2024 a frightfully fun celebration, with M&M’S^® topping the charts as the most popular treat this season. With excitement building across the country, Mars is putting the ‘treat’ in Trick-or-Treat by appointing a ‘Minister of Trick or Treat’ for the month of October.

“Every day feels like Halloween for us here at Mars in both the United States and Canada,” said Tim LeBel, Chief Halloween Officer and President of Sales at Mars Wrigley North America. “I’m excited to anoint Ellen as Minister of Trick-or-Treat. She will carry that Mars Halloween spirit to Canadian consumers, with a little flair on her feet, and armed with the latest consumer data.”

In her new role, Ellen Thompson will oversee the release of the inaugural Mars Spooktacular Trends Report a treasure trove of insights that unmasks consumer trends and how Canadians plan to celebrate Halloween. The new report, developed with Ipsos, looks at consumer preferences among Canadians who plan to celebrate Halloween this year. The data shows that over half of Canadians plan to pass out candy, with Gen X leading the celebrations at 42 per cent. Millennials are the top trick-or-treaters; they are the most likely to dress up and take their families door-to-door. While Baby Boomers are opting for a quieter Halloween this year.

“Halloween is one of the most magical times of the year at Mars and we’re all about inspiring moments of everyday happiness that make it unforgettable,” says Ellen Thompson, Minister of Trick-or-Treat and General Manager of Mars Wrigley Canada. “As a brand that puts consumers at the heart of everything we do, we’re passionate about understanding what brings them joy – from their go-to treats to how they choose to celebrate.”

Halloween Hype Rises

More than half of Canadians who buy Halloween candy plan to purchase their treats one to three weeks before Halloween. The Mars Spooktacular Trends Report found that among those planning to celebrate Halloween, almost 80 per cent are planning to either go bigger this year or to keep their celebrations in line with last year. Gen Z leads the charge towards increasing their festivities.

The Treats Everyone Wants

It wouldn’t be Halloween without treats, and this year, chocolate reigns supreme. M&M’S^® topped the charts for Canadians, with MARS and SNICKERS close behind as fan favourties. Gen-Z love fruity and sour treats, while Gen-X prefers nostalgic classics like MARS.

To extend the fun beyond Halloween, the Mars No Tricks, Just Treats Truck will be launching on November 1^st in locations across the GTA and surrounding areas. Families will have the chance to trade-in their unwanted “tricks,” while those looking to extend the Halloween festivities can receive free candy from the truck, no tricks involved. The truck will make its first stops on November 1 at Southlake Regional Health Centre and local fire stations in Newmarket. On November 2nd, it will visit East Room (50 Carroll St, Toronto, Ont.) and Trinity Community Recreation Centre (155 Crawford St, Toronto, Ont.), followed by Putman Family YWCA52 Ottawa St N, Hamilton, Ont.) on November 3rd. In the spirit of community support, for every pound of unwanted items, Mars will donate $1 to Food Banks Canada, up to $5,000, helping to work towards their vision of a Canada where no one goes hungry. Stay tuned for more information on the Mars No Tricks, Just Treats Truck.

In May 2024, Mars unveiled its 2024 findings from the inaugural “Mars Tricks, Treats and Trends” report, which delves into U.S. consumer’s Halloween preferences, uncovering insights and emerging patterns in consumer behavior and purchase decisions leading into, and during, the season.

Ipsos Survey Methodology

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of MARS-Wrigley. For this survey, a sample of 2,000 Canadians from the Ipsos i-Say panel were interviewed from July 5 to July 9, 2024. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects the overall population according to the latest Canadian census information. The precision of online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the results are accurate to within +2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had all Canadian adults been polled. Credibility intervals are wider among subsets of the population.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a global, family-owned business, Mars is transforming, innovating, and evolving to make a positive impact on the world. Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of quality confectionery, food, and pet care products and services, we employ 140,000+ dedicated Associates. With almost $47 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world’s best-loved brands including Ben’s Original^™, CESAR^®, EXCEL^®, KIND^®, M&M’S^®, SNICKERS^®, PEDIGREE^®, ROYAL CANIN^®, and WHISKAS^®. We are creating a better world for pets through our global network of pet hospitals and diagnostic services – including AniCura, BANFIELD^™, BLUEPEARL^™, Linnaeus and VCA^™ – using cutting edge technology to develop breakthrough programs in genetic health screening and DNA testing. For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

SOURCE Mars, Incorporated