While Thanksgiving is often called the classic American food holiday, Halloween is just as strongly associated with treats--and is also a prime food marketing opportunity.
For fast-food chains in particular, it can be a way to experiment with "spooky" foods that wouldn't fly at any other time of the year.
Earlier this month, Restaurant Brands International (QSR)'s Burger King launched a seasonal Ghost Pepper Whopper--a flame-grilled beef patty with spicy queso, crispy jalapeños, bacon, and ghost pepper cheese on a bright orange poppy seed bun.
McDonald's (MCD) recently brought back the McBoo, McPunk'n and McGoblin trick-or-treating pails that some still remember from the 1980s while donut chain Krispy Kreme (DNUT) has its annual Haunted House donut collection.
This year's includes the Spooky Spider Doughnut with icing made to look like a spider web and the Scaredy Cat Doughnut dipped in purple icing and with a black cat chocolate piece.
Pokemon And Secret Halloween Heat
Known for their innovative takes, Asian branches of popular fast-food chains are a good place to look for over-the-top seasonal menus.
This year, Domino's in Japan announced a Halloween Double Roulette promotion in which customers order a pizza of their choosing and have a worker randomly add super spicy jolokia sauce to two of its slice.
Popular in many Asian countries, the jolokia is a type of ghost pepper three times spicier than the habanero--so some unassuming pizza eater will be in for a hot surprise.
As Brand Eating also reported, Domino's in South Korea has launched a Pokémon Poké Ball Pizza for Halloween--the iconic Pokémon catcher is created out of a standard pizza topped with pepperoni and ricotta, and white cheese sauce.
Some cherry tomatoes are also used to spread out the red at the top of the Poké Ball while bulgogi (thin slices of South Korean marinated beef) are used to outline its opening and button. The pizza sells for 19,900 South Korea won (about $14).
Domino's Japan
Halloween and International Fast Food Companies
"While olives could've been an option for the black outlines across the center, bulgogi was used instead," Japanese news site SoraNews24 wrote of one of their reporters testing the Pokémon Poké Ball Pizza. "This was actually a clever idea, as this made everything on the pizza suitable for a wide variety of tastes, including those of children, who would likely be clapping their hands with glee at the sight of this edible Poké Ball."
With the bulgogi in particular is tailored to local taste buds, Asian branches of popular fast-food chains are often more experimental than in their country of origin.
Many seasonal items, such as the Tsukimi burger that McDonald's Japan brings back each year for the country's annual moon viewing festival, would not sell well in the U.S. due to different palates and lack of cultural associations.
McDonald's Thailand's Chili Paste Pork Ice Cream also went viral on the internet due to what, for most westerners, are completely incompatible flavor profiles.
For local chains, Halloween is one of the biggest opportunities to try more out-there chains under the guise of "scary." This year, another example is Baskin-Robbins' Spicy 'n Spooky ice cream October flavor of the month--a mix of white chocolate and dark chocolate ice cream with some spicy blood orange flakes and ghost pepper blended in for good measure.
