Nostalgia Drives Halloween as Brands Revive Classic Ads

A 30-second Geico ad called “Horror Movie” needed to look like the real Hollywood slasher franchises it was parodying, with attractive stars, desolate setting, high stakes, and slick production values.

And its villain—a prototypical axe murderer—had to speak volumes without a single word of dialogue.

It wasn’t until the final moments of filming—and the final take—that creatives at The Martin Agency and director Wayne McClammy had finally captured what they wanted, according to Ken Marcus, senior writer, vice president, and associate creative director.

“We shot all night,” said Marcus, an architect of the spot, part of the long running “It’s What You Do” campaign. “The sun was about to come up, which would’ve ruined it.”

But the persistence paid off—when “Horror Movie” debuted at Halloween 2014, it became an instant classic and a fan favorite, so popular that it aired during subsequent spooky seasons. 

The spot has returned for a 10th anniversary run this month on well-watched programming like MLB tournament games and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football.

“There were so many escalations and beats cooked into this 30 seconds, and every detail mattered,” Sean Riley, creative director, told ADWEEK. “Getting those right made all the difference between a forgettable ad and one that landed the joke.” 

By resurrecting a well-loved spot, Geico joins a wave of brands mining their own vaults for commercial gold and drawing on well-known pop culture tropes for Halloween campaigns. 

Reese’s has reanimated its shimmying skeletons, and meat and cheese purveyor Dietz & Watson has breathed new life into its Gabaghoul wiseguy. Snyder’s of Hanover creates its own urban legend, with shades of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in a spot dubbed “Pretzelface.”

And Mars has debuted new work, but it marries two of its legacy brands and beloved long-running characters for the first time. The spot, called “Unexpected Guests,” feeds Snickers bars to the anthropomorphic M&M’s spokescandies to help them think on their feet.