Halloween isn't just about crazy costumes and sugar highs. For advertisers it represents the unofficial start of holiday-season advertising. Expect to start seeing plenty of ads in your paper urging you to go shopping.
But consumers have reduced their spending for the first time since 1991. Companies have less money to spend, and they're cautious about how to spend it. Plus, there's the fact that the economic situation is so obviously bad, marketers don't want to seem insensitive, or oblivious.
Bloomingdales is building its holiday season campaign around Tony Bennett, with the logo "Oh what fun." Bloomingdales says it hasn't made any changes due to the economic slowdown, but many others have. Take a look at those newspaper ads.
Retailers from Best Buyto Macy's are going to be promoting special prices. I'm guessing they'll be a bit more aggressive, and maybe a bit more sensitive than in high-rolling years past.
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