The best halloween ads of 2026

The best Halloween ads this year aren’t scary at all.

They’re just ridiculously smart.

Every October, brands throw money at pumpkins, ghosts, and spooky fonts.

A lot of it will be forgotten by Sunday.

But a few this year nailed it:

👻 Rivian brought back Bill Murray

He plays Dr. Peter Venkman again, trapping Slimer in the front trunk of a Rivian dressed up as the Ecto-1.

The smart part?

The ad promotes a Ghostbusters-themed Halloween software update for Rivian owners, so the product gets to be part of the fun instead of sitting in the background.

⚰️ Pringles gave away an urn

1 die-hard fan could win a Pringles can-shaped urn, plus an “afterlifetime” supply of chips.

Sounds unhinged, until you learn the Pringles inventor had his ashes buried in a Pringles can in 2008.

So they basically took a weird true story from their own history and turned it into a campaign only Pringles could run.

Bonus points for the entry page being called OnceYouDrop.com 😂

🧟 Twix brought Zombie Claus back

For the second year running, its Zombie Claus character is celebrating “Hallowmas,” a mash-up of Halloween and Christmas.

Instead of starting from scratch every season, Twix built a character it can bring back, and stretch from October into the holidays.

3 very different ideas, but they all have 1 thing in common:

The Halloween theme is the costume.
The brand is still the one wearing it.

That’s the difference between an ad people forget and one they’re still sharing in December.

So if you’re planning your next seasonal campaign, start with 1 question:

What could only your brand do with this moment?

Happy Halloween everyone! 👻

♻️ Repost for the team already planning next year’s spooky season.
And follow me, Jacob Rokeach, for more on brand and creative systems that scale.