Halloween is to Gen Z what Christmas is to Millennials

I'll admit it: as a Millennial, I'm guilty of going all in on Christmas. We love our perfectly Pinterest-curated trees, the Instagrammable matching family pajamas, and to start our holiday shopping before Black Friday is even a twinkle in Jeff Bezos’ eye. Well, Halloween is Gen Z's Christmas.

Spooky Season provides a nostalgic escape from reality
Both Christmas/the Holiday season and Halloween are steeped in childhood nostalgia. Millennials latched onto Christmas as their nostalgic, comforting anchor in a rapidly changing world. It was about tradition, about a certain kind of cozy perfection and hope that miracles could happen if you just believed.

Gen Z? They're living in that same rapidly changing world further accelerated by algorithmically driven culture sombered by a life-altering pandemic. With their nihilistic worldview, "comfort" in the form of Hallmark ideals of picture-perfect family togetherness has less appeal. They’re favoring Halloween over Christmas for the same reason they prefer TikTok over Instagram: It's more suitable to their preferred form of self-expression: internet-bred chaos and a healthy dose of irony.

Halloween is Gen Z’s cultural playground
Halloween for Gen Z isn't just a holiday; it's a participatory monoculture driven by content. In a world defined by constant digital scrutiny, social anxieties, and an overwhelming news cycle, Halloween provides a sanctioned release. Costumes allow for a temporary shedding of identity and a playful embrace of the bizarre, the fantastical, or the morbid.

Behind the paywall…

As Gen Z gets older, Halloween’s cultural impact will only get greater. In the full piece for members we cover:

• Why UGC is the key to a strong Halloween marketing strategy

• The 3 different roles that brands can play with their marketing for the holiday with real-world examples

Read the full piece on Substack here