Snickers had a Halloween hit a few years back with the grocery-lady spot, in which a couple of kids put the scare on a candy-shopping mom. Now, it's Halloween time again—a crucial few weeks for candy marketers—and Snickers and BBDO New York are back with their latest confection, featuring a character who's got it backwards: Instead of a Headless Horseman, he's a Horseless Headsman. The floaty head—played by Ezra Buzzington—is disturbing, though not to the ad's jaded trick-or-treaters, who question what he's supposed to be. "How is that even scary?" one of them mutters, and eventually they pitifully offer him a Snickers. This causes him to change back into a Headless Horseman, however, frightening the pants off the young slackers—and paying off the old tagline, "You're not you when you're hungry." Whether or not the new spot has grocery-lady appeal remains to be seen, but it's certainly more treat than trick. There's an alternate edit for the online version of the spot—see that one, and credits, after the jump.
CREDITS
Client: Snickers (Mars)
Title: "Horseless Headsman"
Agency: BBDO, New York
Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars
Senior Creative Director, Art Director: Gianfranco Arena
Senior Creative Director, Copywriter: Peter Kain
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Alex Taylor
Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Jason Stefanik
Executive Producer: Amy Wertheimer
Music Producer: Melissa Chester
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Craig Gillespie
Editing Company: No6
Editor: Jason MacDonald
Visual Effects: Framestore