Dancing clowns and eerie mansions — brands are bringing frights to the metaverse this Halloween.
While players should expect to be scared, brands may want to prepare for a shock of their own from their finance departments.
Metaverse marketing has come under question as brands build experiences that can cost upwards of $1 million for less than 1,000 users, even if metaverse platforms are disputing how their user bases are tracked.
Mark Zuckerberg’s investment in the metaverse has caused Meta’s profits to sink like Davy Jones’ locker — dropping 52% in Q3. Now that’s a scary statistic, especially as the world’s biggest companies are facing pressure to prove the ROI of investments in the face of a potential recession.
Nevertheless, Zuck and marketers remain committed to the metaverse. Some even made their debut this Halloween.
Here are five brands shuffling onto the platform like the living dead.
L'Oréal's Urban Decay
Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media decided one day isn’t enough time to celebrate Halloween. The media company partnered with L’Oréal’s Urban Decay makeup line to create Cryptoween in Roblox.
Until tomorrow, players can customize their avatars with Halloween costumes and Urban Decay makeup, visit pop-ups showcasing a few of the brand’s products, walk a digital runway and take selfies with Paris Hilton’s avatar.
Cheetos
Cheetos is bringing users to a suburban neighborhood on Horizon Worlds that evokes many Halloween horror films called “Chesterville.” Deviants and delinquents can take on a few challenges and track their holiday spirit with a “mischief meter.”
TP the digital neighbor’s house with Cheeto-dusted paper towels, deck the block in Cheetos branding with Chester’s wand and douse other players in Cheetos new mac n’ cheese. Once players misbehave their way into a mansion at the top of a hill, they can vote to resurrect one of three dead Cheetos flavors: Flamin’ Hot Chipotle Ranch, Flamin’ Hot Pepper Puffs or Nashville Hot.
Meta Quest
If watching horror movies in 2-D is a stroll in the park, Meta Quest is screening short-films Alien Apocalypse, The Monster Challenge, and Pennywise the Dancing Clown at Horizon World’s drive-in. The two- to six-minute-long videos take viewers into the lairs of iconic horror villains such as Pennywise, Michael Myers and the Slender Man.
For more metaverse action, explore Haywood Ranch in Nope World as director Jordan Peele did.
Hot Topic
Hot Topic making its debut in the metaverse makes so much sense for anyone who’s shopped there (guilty as charged), as the brand admittedly embraces a Halloween-lifestyle year-round.
The clothing retailer dropped a series of IRL clothing items in Roblox, where Hot Topic’s clothing looks like it’s always belonged.
Players can go shopping in three virtual pop-up shops in Speed Run 4, The Floor is Lava and Catalog Outfit Creator — three Roblox games that together share an audience of over 3 billion visits, VentureBeat reported.
TCL Electronics
The Hong-Kong based electronics company is also making its metaverse debut with a Roblox activation. TCL is letting players loose in a house filled with Halloween mini-games promoting its series of TVs and soundbars.
After donning a Halloween costume, as is typical with these things, players can venture to a virtual photo booth.
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