Spooky Cola

Last year, I talked about the lack of Halloween edition Cola's (2011 Halloween Soda's.)  I was surprised to see so little in terms of advertising and marketing when it comes to Pepsi and Coca-Cola branding their cans and bottles during the Halloween season.  Maybe they simply don't have to, because their loyal customers aren't going to jump ship over a logo, but who knows?  

Remember when Coke released their Polar Bear cans?  My God, I never thought I'd see such an uproar over a can of soda.  Is it diet?  Is it regular?  Oh no, I can't tell!!!  Seriously, relax, and maybe read the label.  That always seems to help.  I get that people don't want to be bothered with any extra effort throughout their day, and I agree that soda should require no effort at all, but why can't we all appreciate the creativity?  Those white cans were pretty awesome and I actually bought a few just because of the design.  I guess for every 10 people who flip out negatively, there's that one nerd who does the opposite!

Unfortunately, last year, there was nothing available for me to get excited over.  I didn't find anything, not even Mountain Dew Pitch Black or Jones Soda, so I had to make my own, custom, soda graphics.  A Holidaze reader, Shawn Robare, informed me that there were Halloween soda cans in store, and that's great, but I guess my area was all out.  BUT.. not this year!!

These are the mini cans that I heard about in previous years.  I think I've seen them once before, but it was well before I started The Holidaze.  Regardless, I found them this year and you really should have seen my face when I did.  

Whenever I'm at Target, I walk way ahead of my girlfriend because I can't wait to look at the Halloween stuff while she is usually focused on the make-up and clothes.  These cans caught my eye and I stood there pointing to nobody.  I had to tell her to come over and look at them!  She was excited, but probably more so for me than these cans.  

It's crazy how happy I get over these things, but this made my day!  Look at those Canada Dry cans!  There's a Mummy!! I don't know what a Mummy has to do with Canada, and I can only assume that those Lobsters have something to do with Canada, but it doesn't matter either way.  The fact that there is a Mummy at all, especially one that's giving us a smirk, its just awesome!

This one is my absolute favorite in both flavor and design!  First of all, black and orange are the two true Halloween colors.  After that?  Purple and green.  Now, I know the logo features blue, but it's close enough and, with that green leaf, we have everything we could have wanted from a Sunkist Halloween can!  Now, you throw in an amazingly designed Vampire and his bat brothers, and we've found perfection.  Ohh, and I didn't even mention that tiny tombstone in the right corner.  You know you've made a great product when the tombstone is an after thought.  Come on!

If you read last year, or clicked the links I posted above, then you saw the Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Cherry Pepsi, Code Red, and Coca-Cola designs I made myself.  Well, the new Sunkist can gave me an idea for a new Orange flavor and it will be revealed by the end of this post.  For now, we're moving on!

AhhrooooooooooooooT Beer!  That's the only correlation between A&W and the Wolf Man that I can find.  That and the fact that they're both brown.  The latter is probably the reason for this partnership, and I'm completely cool with that.  I love this can.  I would have made the Wolf Man look less like Wile E. Coyote, but it's a minor complaint.  We still have the spooky woods and full moon.  The fall atmosphere is depicted perfectly and it makes for one of the best cans I've ever seen.  It's playful, it's fun, and it's worth buying for decorative purposes, let alone for flavor!

The Sunkist Vampire is my favorite, but man this is a close second.  A haunted castle, lightning surrounding the can, and Frankenstein!  So awesome.  He looks like he's holding the 7-UP logo, but I can't be sure.  But it doesn't matter, I was sold after I saw the first can.  At this point, we're just getting bonuses here.

Now, I know I said my girlfriend wasn't excited as I was, but I think that might have been said a bit prematurely.  Because, as soon as I started taking pictures, she created this..

It's a Haunted Castle of Spooky Soda Cans!!  You have to give it up for the symmetry here!  We have 3 Canada Dry cans on the bottom, 2 Sunkist Orange cans in the middle, 6 Root Beer cans wrapping around those, and the lightning struck Frankenstein can up top!  I've seen champagne fountains before, and they're beautiful, but I think she's topped it.  These cans don't even need to pour and I'm already convinced that they belong at weddings.  All weddings.  All the time.  Let's take Halloween and make it a year-long celebration.  I'm in such a 'daze right now, that I'm ready to stay in this season forever.

The coolest part about these mini cans, and I assume this was the motive, is that they're perfect for Trick-or-Treaters!  I know kids usually want candy and candy alone, but this probably packs more sugar per sip than a bag of skittles.  Plus, I know what type of impact this will have on kids that truly embrace the Halloween season.  

I remember when Pizza Hut branded their entire store, boxes, and cups to represent the Universal Monsters.  I don't know how I old I was, but it's an image that stands out in my mind as one that really captured the spirit of the season.  Somewhere, there's a kid who's going to get a few of these cans and remember drinking them with their Mom, Dad, Brother, or Sister.  It's going to create a memory for somebody and that means more to The Holidaze than anything else.  To some, it's just a cool graphic.  But, to others, this is more than a piece of art.

Speaking of art..

Picking up where I left off last year, I created a new Halloween Soda graphic design label.  Looking at the Sunkist Vampire for inspiration, I went with Crush Orange soda this year.  If I were to produce my own Halloween version of this tasty soda, I'd definitely change the flavor and rename it "Blood Orange."  I changed the color of the logo and added dripping blood to the border.  Of course, it'd be a limited edition.  If I saw this in stores, it would be an immediate purchase.  I would probably buy a few 12-packs and just keep them sealed.  That's one of the perks of being able to work with graphics.  I'm able to make what we all want to see and share it with whoever reads this blog.  Hopefully you enjoyed this design and, once again, please check out last year's and let me know what you think.

2011 Halloween Soda

If you have any designs of cool product ideas you've had, share them with me @HolidazeBlog on Twitter and I'll post them on The Holidaze!  I'd love to see your work!