These unusual global pictures show why 2021 Halloween was not what you’d expect
Finally! After what turned out to be a pretty depressing Halloween in 2020, this year, the spooky season was back in full force. So for a bit of fun, we ran a photo competition for our global community of 4.5 million bees (users) to find out how different cultures celebrated around the world. 6,000 bees pinged over their snaps via the app, right in the moment of the festivities.
Read this next: what’s the buzz about…the bees? (a quick summary of how we capture our data from our bees)
Capturing big data in open text, photos and videos in the moment of consumption is the best way to help brands uncover the emotion and context that REALLY drives consumer behaviour…But another amazing thing about the millions of data points we capture is discovering all the traditions and cultural differences that shine through across our global markets. And Halloween was no different!
Here are our highlights from the competition. There’s a lot more to it than pumpkins and sweet treats…
In Indonesia, many costumes are inspired by traditional ghost stories and masks
“This is the traditional mask of the Betawi people.” Male, Indonesia
“In Indonesian folklore, there’s a ghost named Kuntilanak with long hair, like in my costume.” Female, Indonesia
“We found a Pocong ghost in the house.” Female, Indonesia
One of our bees in China has merged traditions with modernity to create a futuristic Geisha costume
“Celebrating Halloween in this robo-geisha costume.” Female, China
These pictures suggest Halloween treats are getting healthier this year
“It’s a rice bat.” Male, Mexico
“I made these Halloween fingers using using carrots, eggshell and ketchup.” Female, Brazil
“Halloween-style zombie 🥔 potato.” Male, Brazil
In Mexico, our bees celebrate Day of the Dead: a vibrant occasion celebrating the lives of the deceased
“Beyond Halloween is the Mexican representation of the Day of the Dead. They are the so-called Cartones who rise up to visit the altars that their relatives offer them”. Female, Mexico
“The tradition of my country is to sell a large quantity of sweets in this season related to those who have died.” Female, Mexico
“ It is the custom in our region of Oaxaca and that day we celebrate it with dances and costumes and with decorations of candles and food.” Male, Mexico
These bees showed us Halloween pumpkins come in many shapes and sizes - and don’t need to be carved hollow!
“This is the Halloween themed banquet held by the Sheraton Hotel. It is very surprising. The unique pumpkin shape is mainly used to integrate the meaning of naughty and mischievous. I like it very much.” Female, Canada
“I liked this pumpkin in the window of the Karaca [coffee] store.” Female, Turkey
“The photo in my local store shows the main symbol of Halloween - the Pumpkin.” Male, Russia
To learn more about how Streetbees help brands uncover growth opportunities by capturing photos, video and verbatim on global context and emotion at any given moment, give us a shout in the form below.