Here’s the scary lead from an influential New York Times story, titled “Those Treats May Be Tricks,” which ran Oct. 28, 1970:
Those Halloween goodies that children collect this weekend on their rounds of ‘trick‐or‐treating’ may bring them more horror than happiness.
Take, for example, that plump red apple that Junior gets from a kindly old woman down the block. It may have a razor blade hidden inside. The chocolate “candy” bar may be a laxative, the bubble gum may be sprinkled with lye, the pop corn balls may be coated with camphor, the candy may turn out to be packets containing sleeping pills.
According to social scientists who study this sort of thing, this story played a big part in creating the “poisoned candy” myth that eventually swept the country.
Then and now, no kids were ever actually injured from tampered Halloween candy given by strangers.
Yes, there were some cases of candy tampering. But those were all by adults looking to get financial compensation, or by kids looking for attention. Everything else was purely made up.
Even so…
What parent today would let their kid accept an apple from a stranger — without wondering if there’s a razor blade inside?
One big reason for this are people like journalists and politicians.
I’ve heard them described as “availability entrepreneurs.” They make it a business to have scary images (like hidden razor blades) available to the public mind.
Maybe you think that’s terrible and fake newsish.
In that case, you’re a better person than me.
Because when I hear “availability entrepreneur,” I think “marketing angle.”
If somebody like the NY Times is going to all the trouble of stirring up paranoia in the public, I figure I might as well ride on their coattails a bit.
Think climate change… The immigration crisis… Gluten intolerance… School shootings… Zika 2019 (or whatever this year’s epidemic is)… The evils of Facebook.
With a bit of thought, and by picking a side for or against these highly available ideas, you should be able to get a lot of powerful, free marketing support.
And if you want, you can even use it to sell a solid, helpful product, which makes the world a better place.
If that’s what you’re doing, and you want some specific examples of how to make your marketing better by tying into the latest available trend, then check out the following: