The hook
The first three seconds set up a collision, not a product shot. Zombie Claus arrives shouting “Happy Hallowmas” as if the season already exists, and the teenager in the ad refuses to play along. She asks whether she should be merry or terrified. That gap is the hook: the audience is left with two feelings at once, and the brand doesn’t rush to resolve them.
The structure
The hero ad is built as a short comedic bit, cut into 40-second and 15-second versions. The teenager keeps stacking either/or questions: scared or salivating, carol or bat. The script doesn’t explain the joke; it repeats and escalates it. The hero ad was created by adam&eve\TBWA and produced by Rouge Films.
Around that film, Twix layers a character rollout rather than a one-off spot. The first piece of content was a branded appearance on Subway Takes, where Zombie Claus joined host Kareem Rahma in episode 806 to argue that first impressions don’t matter, but second impressions are much more important. Influencer activity and a consumer competition follow. The structure is a mascot moving through formats, each one reinforcing the same odd pairing.
The idea and the brief
Hallowmas is a second-year play. Twix introduced the season in 2025 as a blend of Halloween and Christmas, with Zombie Claus handing out both fear and cheer. The concept is a direct nod to the Mars-owned brand’s platform, “Two Is More Than One.”
Allison Miazga-Bedrick, vice president of marketing for Mars’ seasonal portfolio, said Hallowmas is linked to the two bars of Twix: when two things come together, they create something better. She described the season as delivering “twice the fun, fright and festive spirit.” That brief gives the creative team a simple rule: every beat should contain a double.
Where it’s running
The campaign rolls out this week on social and through earned media. Publicis Media secured the Subway Takes appearance and other national media and influencer partnerships. Weber Shandwick handled PR and the execution of the competition, which carries a $20,000 prize pot.
Fans are invited to submit photos and videos marking Hallowmas. Twix will award two $5,000 prizes: one for the best Zombie Claus look-alike and one for the best blend of Halloween and Christmas. Another $10,000 goes to the person who “takes Hallowmas to the next level.” The campaign culminates on Halloween, when Zombie Claus hands out Twix bars in Williamsburg, New York.
Steal this
The mechanics are scalable, even without a national media package:
- Give a mascot a take, not just a costume. Zombie Claus showed up on Subway Takes with an actual point of view, which made the character portable beyond the hero ad.
- Turn a product truth into a story engine. Twix’s two bars became the reason for the whole holiday mashup. Find the structural fact in your product and stretch it.
- Use a contest to manufacture proof. The $20,000 prize pot is really a UGC engine. Fans submit look-alike videos and holiday blends, and Twix gets earned content.
Watch the original: Twix on YouTube
Source: Adweek
