SUN-MAID raised raisins’ low Halloween popularity with clever activation

At Halloween, trick-or-treaters want chocolate. Raisins, not so much. Snack-brand Sun-Maid was determined to do something about this historical disparity. So in a bid to make raisins’ reputation as one of the least popular Halloween handouts vanish like a ghost, Sun-Maid brought back from the dead its 2021 haunted “Raisin House” stunt, only this time spreading the spookiness throughout an entire town. Not just any town, but the town of St. Helens, Oregon—scene of the location shots for the 1998 cult-classic “Halloweentown.” Among the many terrors unleased by Sun-Maid were zombie raisins (actually, pre-undead actors in dehydrated-fruit costumes) darting around the streets, possibly in search of puddings, sweet breads, and bran cereals as substitutes for human brains to feed upon. The madness and mayhem went on without letup for most of October.