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HCA: Halloween 2020 Initiative Recap

Monday, September 21, 2020  
Posted by: Kim Libucki

As you'll see below, the HCA (special shout out to Aneisha!) has been hard at work for Halloween 2020. 

On Monday, September 14th the Halloween & Costume Association officially announced the Halloween Safety Guidelines for the 2020 season as well as new tools and resources, including the COVID risk level map provided by the Harvard Global Health Institute – all available on Halloween2020.org.

With strong partners on board, including The Hershey Company, experts from Harvard Global Health Institute, the National Retail Federation, UNICEF, Spirit, fun.com and the National Confectioners Association, we kicked off the day with an exclusive article on USAToday.com, followed by a national press release issued by PRNewswire and an in-depth feature story in The Wall Street Journal.

Following Monday’s launch, media momentum continued to build throughout the week, highlighting the new guidelines and map, and with interview requests coming in daily. Additionally, more than a dozen local government agencies, corporate supporters and national/regional associations quickly signed on to help promote the guidelines and partner with HCA on this important initiative to ensure families everywhere can find fun, safe ways to celebrate the Halloween season.

To date, the initiative has garnered more than 120+ earned media placements, reaching a potential audience of 1.3B+ (UVMs). Additionally, the press release issued via PRNewswire has been picked-up by more than 100 outlets, including Yahoo! News, MarketWatch and Associated Press, reaching a potential audience of 159M+.

In total, through earned media and the press release, this announcement has garnered 225 media placements, reaching a potential audience of nearly 1.5B, with coverage pending from several outlets including CNBC, Quartz, BBC and more.

Below, please see a full list of coverage to date as well as new corporate, government and association supporters that came onboard since the guidelines were announced on Monday.

Earned Media Coverage (in date order):

Press Release:

Pending Earned Media Coverage:

  • CNBC: Hershey’s Phil Stanley spoke with CPG Reporter Amelia Lucas this morning (9/18); coverage set to hit on Sunday, September 20.
  • Bloomberg: Hershey’s Phil Stanley speaking with outlet on Monday on the overall Halloween season, will include guidelines in messaging talk track.
  • Salon: Interview with HCA representative complete; coverage pending
  • Quartz: Interview with HCA representative on Safe House Pledge complete, Hershey also provided commentary; coverage pending
  • Marketplace: Interview with HCA representative complete; coverage pending
  • ATL26 News: Interview with HCA representative scheduled for September 22.
  • BBC: Interview with HCA representative scheduled for October 7.
  • Fox 32 Chicago: Follow-up to the story today with HCA representative scheduled for October 12.

New Government Partners:

  • South Dakota Department of Health
  • Atlanta City Council
  • City of Cheboygan (MI)
  • Anoka, MN Mayor’s Office

Corporate & Association Supporters:

  • Associated Food Stores
  • FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) – Teal Pumpkin Project
  • Halloween Preservation Society
  • Georgia Southern EDU
  • ShopRite/Wakefern
  • National Association of Counties
  • National Association of Regional Councils
  • National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
  • The National League of Cities (reps 18K cities across the US)
  • The National Association of Convenience Stores (Advancing Convenience & Fuel Retailing)
  • US Conference of Mayors (have information, support TBD)
  • Conference of State Legislatures (have information, support TBD)

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To promote and grow the safe celebration of Halloween and year-round costumed events throughout North America.