Hannah Montana and Dora the Explorer will be the most popular Halloween costumes based on a licensed kids' character, predicts a survey conducted by Octagon First Call, winning 22% and 13% of the votes, respectively. Some 9% of the survey respondents predicted that characters based on Where the Wild Things Are will be most popular.
Given the successful release this past spring of Hannah Montana: The Movie, along with a bestselling movie soundtrack, it's not surprising that Hannah Montana took the top spot, comments David Schwab, VP and managing director of First Call, the celebrity acquisition and activation division of Octagon, in his blog. First Call conducted the survey to identify this Halloween's costume trends.
Other survey questions and responses:
Which celebrity’s mistake could make for the best Halloween costume this year?
- 17% of respondents identified Kanye West.
- 15% answered Michael Jackson.
- 12% said Jon & Kate Gosselin.
"Coming off the heels of his shocking interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech during this year’s MTV VMA’s, Kanye West is expected to be this year’s biggest villain," writes Schwab. "Given general public sentiment, we don’t expect him to become the face of a brand anytime soon. Others suggested that Michael Jackson costumes would be popular given his recent death and the release of his music documentary, This Is It."
Which brand’s character/spokesman would win a Halloween costume contest?
- 14% said Billy Mays (recently deceased OxyClean spokesperson).
- 13% said Geico Caveman.
- 7% said Geico Gecko.
"Billy Mays continues to be a popular figure after his untimely June death. His son, Billy Mays III, has decided to host a Hallow-Clean Contest, which asks people to send in pictures of themselves dressed as his famed OxyClean spots on Halloween. I’m sure the OxyClean brand is glad to get the extra coverage," Schwab writes.
"Geico has claimed the second and third spot with their Cavemen and Gecko. The insurance company has done a great job branding themselves, with one in every five consumers mentioning a Geico spokesman."
What reality TV star should have their own costume?
- 15% of respondents chose Jon & Kate Gosselin together for a couple's costume.
- 9% selected Kate Gosselin.
- 7% chose Jon Gosselin.
"Reality boyfriend Spencer Pratt of The Hills fame beat out wife Heidi Montag to clinch the fourth spot in our survey, while rap icon Flava Flav who made waves most recently with his hit VH1 show Flavor of Love rounded out the bottom of the list," writes Schwab.
About the data: First Call Octagon surveyed 200 respondents about which celebrities and branded figures would be good Halloween costume choices.
