Halloween, Fashion Week, and More in Recent Consumer News

A look at the consumer and retail news from PR Newswire in September and October that you might have missed.

 

Consumer News Trends, September-October 2023

 

By Toney Palumbo | Published Nov. 1, 2023

 

As summer turned to fall and the last fiscal quarter began waxing toward the end of the calendar year, we at PR Newswire kept an eye on the trends that occupied consumers and curved bottom lines upward like a wry jack-o’-lantern grin.

In September and October, we saw more than 4,700 consumer-industry releases, an increase of more than 13% from the previous two-month period. A number of them were about Halloween, Fashion Week, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this year's must-have toys. 

Some of the Most Popular Consumer Releases

Before we explore some of our trending subjects, here are a few consumer press releases that saw the highest levels of engagement in the last two months:

 

 

Consumer News Trends

Here’s a closer look at trends we’ve identified among consumer-related press releases in September and October, with links to examples liberally provided throughout.

Halloween

True to the spirit of the season, press releases pertaining to Halloween were in abundance during the months of September and October, with over 150 releases mentioning the holiday. Spirit Halloween embraced its busiest time of year by distributing a handful of announcements, while many other companies unveiled seasonal treats and spooky-themed products timed for the holiday, including several releases touting holiday decorations for sale.

Many of the Halloween press releases we distributed focused on sweets, appropriately enough for an occasion centered on their acquisition and consumption, including the following:

But candy makers and other purveyors of similarly sugary concoctions weren’t the only food companies to get in on the Halloween action, with a number of savory delights rolled out (or recommended as alternatives) for the season, including White Castle deals beginning on Friday the 13th, Tyson Brand’s fun-shaped “spooky nuggets,” and Halloween-inspired pizza deals for a ghoulish time at home or on a fun family night out.

And as can be expected around any holiday, companies prepared to keep the festivities properly festive with celebratory alcoholic beverages for those who have aged out of trick-or-treating.

Not all Halloween products were of the edible variety, with releases highlighting seasonal decorations, new apparel collaborations, cosmetics collections, and even laser engraving technology.

Other Halloween news analyzed this year’s anticipated trends or invited readers to special events and contests like Dictionary.com's Haunting Hooks: Haunted House Edition. Wildcard stories from Ring, describing a tongue-in-cheek sweepstakes geared toward encouraging consumers to capture footage of a “real Extraterrestrial,” and Pet Poison Helpline, providing tips for critter safety during All Hallow’s Eve (hint: make sure they’re away from the door during trick-or-treat time, and watch where you put your cannabis edibles!), kept us engaged, informed, and entertained.

Fashion Week(s)

In September and October, multiple “fashion capitals” held the autumn iterations of their biannual Fashion Weeks, and PR Newswire saw related traffic as brands sought to publicize their participation in the sought-after cultural events. Content pertaining to New York constituted a slim majority of that which we distributed, but London, Paris, Milan — and to a lesser extent, Los Angeles — were represented as well.

Some releases were relatively straightforward announcements that particular designers would be in attendance, debuting a new collection:

Others emphasized inclusivity efforts designed to celebrate diversity within the fashion and beauty industries:

TRESemmé opted to highlight its role in helping to bring the visions of participating designers to fruition by enabling “iconic runway hair looks,” while in Paris, Maison Messika celebrated its 10th anniversary in High Jewelry, and Gozen unveiled LUNAFORM, “a new kind of biomaterial.”

Breast Cancer Awareness Campaigns

With October observed as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, much of PR Newswire’s client base strove to demonstrate support for the cause. Many companies described direct collaborations with organizations like the Breast Cancer Research Foundation or Susan G. Komen, in addition to executing various independent “pink” campaigns.

While some businesses announced direct monetary donations to a breast cancer nonprofit, like Armitron’s $5,000 contribution to Komen, LILYSILK offered material assistance in the form of 1,500 silk eye masks to the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s HOPE Kits for women undergoing treatment.

However, the majority of Breast Cancer Awareness Month releases fell into the following two categories:

Those pertaining to fundraising events organized by a source company, such as:

And campaigns to donate a percentage of profits earned during the month, including:

Top Toys

Toys were a hot topic in September and October – the Toy Association’s North American International Toy Fair in New York City and its Foundation’s accompanying Toy of the Year Awards straddled the two months. And with the fast-approaching holidays, consumers, manufacturers, and industry analysts alike are looking ahead to define the must-have items of 2023.

The Toy Association distributed a couple releases in anticipation of its own event, which even we here at PR Newswire made sure to hype up a little. Upon the Toy Fair’s conclusion, the Association also made sure to inform our readers when and where the next events would be taking place.

Most Toy Fair releases, however, were about a given company’s participation in the event, like these attendees:

While the Toy Fair took place, the Toy of the Year® (TOTY®) Awards were named, with winners including two victories for Moose Toys and a Doll of the Year Finalist nod for The Fresh Beats Dolls by EPI, the toy and publishing division of The Dr. Lisa Company.

Elsewhere, analysts were keen to identify the hottest toys of the year before holiday shopping season begins in earnest, with both U.S.- and Canada-centric lists compiled for gift givers looking to spread cheer.  

Looking Ahead

With Black Friday and the perennial sprint to the end-of-year holidays forthcoming, we’ll be sure to keep an eye on the November and December trends worth the water cooler talk in 2024. 

 

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About the Author

Toney Palumbo headshotToney Palumbo has been a member of the nocturnal Cision PR Newswire team since late 2017. In his leisure time, he is a prodigious consumer (and sporadic creator) of music.