Ferrero North America is expanding its ‘Adultoween’ campaign, using a partnership with reality television personality Alicia Carmody to position Halloween as an occasion for adults as well as children.
Carmody, a cast member of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, is featuring Ferrero products in Halloween content on Instagram, including a tour of her seasonal decorations and a promotional giveaway. Ferrero said it would release the results of its third annual Adultoween survey later this month.
The partnership seeks to turn a consumer insight into a broader seasonal marketing platform. Ferrero said its 2025 survey found that 62% of American adults saw Halloween as much for adults as for children, while 54% believed adults deserved a dedicated night of their own.
“Adultoween started as an insight the Ferrero Group discovered and has grown into a cultural movement,” said Chad Stubbs, chief marketing officer at Ferrero North America.
Ferrero's description of Adultoween as a cultural movement is its own framing, but broader retail data supports the company’s focus on adult participation and an increasingly extended Halloween season.
The National Retail Federation expects total US Halloween spending to reach $13.5 billion in 2026, compared with the previous year’s record $13.1 billion. Its survey found that 74% of consumers planned to celebrate, with almost half expecting to begin shopping in September or earlier.
Sweets remain the most widely purchased Halloween category. The NRF forecasts spending of $4.1 billion this year, with 96% of Halloween shoppers planning to buy them.
Separate National Confectioners Association research found that 81% of Americans intended to celebrate Halloween and 85% planned to share treats with trick-or-treaters. Among parents, 83% admitted taking chocolate and sweets from their children’s Halloween haul.
The variation between the NRF and NCA participation figures reflects separate industry surveys rather than a single market estimate. Both nevertheless point to resilient engagement with the occasion.
Advertisement
Ferrero is supporting its campaign with a seasonal range spanning chocolate, biscuits and sugar confectionery. Products named in the company’s announcement include Kinder Joy products linked to Stranger Things, Butterfinger Skulls and Halloween editions of Kinder Bueno and Keebler biscuits.
The breadth of the range is notable as manufacturers contend with sharply higher confectionery costs and signs of more cautious consumer behaviour.
The US consumer price index for candy and chewing gum rose 32% between December 2019 and November 2024, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Its analysis linked the increase to higher cocoa and sugar costs, supply-chain disruption and adverse weather in major producing countries.
Global cocoa production fell by more than 13% in the 2023–24 season as poor weather and crop disease affected Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, pushing world prices to record levels in 2024. Although cocoa prices have since retreated from their peak, lower commodity prices do not immediately reach shoppers because manufacturers often contract for beans many months before delivery.
Consumers are therefore entering the 2026 Halloween season with retail chocolate prices still elevated. The NRF found that shoppers were responding more actively to costs: 31% said they would comparison-shop if Halloween products were more expensive than expected, while 26% would seek coupons or promotions.
For Ferrero, the commercial opportunity lies in maintaining participation while broadening the occasions, audiences and types of confectionery associated with Halloween. Its Carmody partnership gives the company an adult-facing social-media campaign alongside the traditional focus on children and trick-or-treating.
"You're never too old to celebrate Halloween! So, this year, my candy jars are full, my dolls are on display, my costume is on, and Ferrero treats are right alongside my bag of crackers," said Alicia Carmody. "Partnering with Ferrero means showing adults everywhere that Adultoween is a VIBE!"
Whether ‘Adultoween’ develops beyond a branded marketing device will depend on consumer adoption. For now, Ferrero is betting that enthusiasm for Halloween – and shoppers’ willingness to keep buying sweets despite higher prices – will support a longer and more inclusive selling season.
Advertisement
CocoaRadar View
Ferrero’s campaign illustrates how confectionery groups are seeking to expand the main holiday season of Halloween, particularly in the US, without relying solely on increased chocolate consumption. Targeting adults, promoting mixed confectionery portfolios and extending activity across the autumn can create additional selling occasions while high cocoa costs continue to constrain the traditional chocolate market.