Terrifying Movie Tie-Ins

The connection between horror fans and movie-themed snacks is strong and lasting.

Snack/movie tie-ins are nothing new. The first one to really grab the consumer was the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory back in 1971 (which ended up launching a complete candy line). In 1982, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, flipped the approach by making a real world snack, Reese’s Pieces, an integral part of the plot.

Whether a tie-in is a fictional product inspired by a movie (Wonka) or a real product inserted into a movie (E.T.), both have proven effective. The Willy Wonka candy line expanded, continuing to this day. Demand for Reese’s Pieces spiked 65 percent two weeks after the E.T. opened. No wonder then, that in the over 40 years since, tie-ins have proliferated, fueled by the explosion in the number of movies available on streaming and other platforms.

Some of the most memorable tie-ins are between horror movies and snacks, which makes sense, not only because we are writing this during Halloween season, but because it’s been long established that horror movie fans consume more than their fair share of snacks[1]. Let’s look at a few sample tie-ins:

Mike Meyers Slasher Mask Candy: These sour orange candies that look like cheese sticks come packaged in a Halloween II-themed mask. There’s one for Jason Vorhees of Friday the 13th fame, as well, with a container in the shape of a beat-up hockey mask. Of course.

Twinkies in Zombieland: In this movie, Jessie Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson engage in a daring quest for Twinkies in a post-apocalyptic world, which leads them to a confrontation with the undead in a grocery store. It’s one of the more egregious examples of placement you’ll find.

Strawberries & Scream Cereal: The Scream movies are big in the U.K., and when the 2022 entry in the series came out, so did this cereal, which the manufacturer described as “packed with a strawberry and cream punch and loads of strawberry jelly bits, with whole dehydrated marshmallows.” Yummy!

Pop Rocks and Urban Legend: This pairing really qualifies as anti-product placement, since in the movie (spoiler alert!) little Mikey really does succumb to the urban legend that eating pop rocks and drinking soda will make your stomach explode. We’re been assured, however, that there is absolutely no truth to the matter. And Pop Rocks continue to thrive as a brand today.

Carmella Creeper Cereal: Count Chocula and Franken Berry, though not tied into any specific movie, are obviously inspired by the classic movie images of Frankenstein and Dracula. In 2023, the General Mills monster family grew by one when Carmella Creeper, cousin to Franken Berry, arrived on the scene. According to the manufacturers, she is “a cool, young and very capable young Zombie.” She’s also quite green.

Merchandise/movie tie-ins tend to have a limited shelf life, or, if the promotion is with an already stocked product, can initiate a sales bump that is only temporary. Though occurring only for a finite time, such promotions hold great retail potential—if managed correctly.

Maximizing the profitability of short term trends and seasonal promotions in a c-store’s inventory—while being able to identify new items you should keep for the long haul—have become almost impossible without technology. Instant access to current sales detail, summary values, and historical trends is a necessity: a post-holiday windfall can turn into zombified dead stock before you know it.

The Computerized Daily Book back office, from SSCS, helps you get control over variables exactly like these, and that’s just a start of the what our inventory management module can do to grow store profit and reduce the shrink that may be haunting you. Getting control over your what is on your shelves doesn’t have to be scary. We’ll explain why when you give us a call at (800) 927-7277.

[1] There’s even a book about it.