Biggest Brands of Halloween 2010

Yay, it's that time of the year again! You know - late October! Who doesn't love making a complete fool of themselves dressing up for Halloween? It could be the most fun holiday of the year...at least in my opinion.  

It's big business too! According to the National Retail Federation, the average American consumer is estimated to spend $66.28 on their costumes, candy and decorations. This is an 18% increase over 2009. Industry experts feel the increase is likely due to the down economy and consumers wanting to spend a little and have fun this Halloween.

So let's take a look at the biggest brands of Halloween for 2010. Are you ready?

• Lady Gaga - no surprise here as she had a very successful year including a highly-publicized tour.

• Jersey Shore - as if it is not bad enough to just watch the show (which btw is a complete and udder train-wreck albeit one that is hard to not watch), tons of people will be dressing up this year as the crew's Pauly D, Mike the Situation, Snooki, etc.

• Avatar - of course the biggest movie of the year would make the list.

• Other popular movie characters this year include Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story.

• 1980s retro - the 80s are coming back all-around and Halloween is no exception as many people will take this trend over the top with funny hair and clothes.

• The Old Spice Guy - one of the advertising industry's most popular campaigns will come to life with guys dressing up as the guy on the horse.

• Twilight - this one along with vampires in general will be big because lucky us, the whole vamp lit trend continues.

• Horror movie villians - there will be no shortage of Michael Myers, Freddie Krueggers and their other creepy counterparts.

• Funny couple costumes including my new favorite the Plug + Socket.

So there you have it. If you still haven't decided what to be you can opt for one of these popular Halloween Brands. Go ahead, we won't judge you if you dress up as Snooki or Pauly D (snickering). Want to add some good ones to the list? Leave your comments!

2009's Ten Most Popular Halloween Brands/Costumes

I love Halloween. It's so much fun to dress up and check out all the costumes! It's also facscinating from a branding and pop culture perspective to research the year's most popular costumes (see list below).

1) Michael Jackson - After the untimely death of the pop-star he's on the best-selling artists on i-tunes, winning awards, people are wearing "I Miss Michael" shirts and dressing up like the King of Pop himself for this Halloween. Now if that isn't a brand I don't know what is.

2) Harry Potter - The Potter series has been popular since the first movie was made. This summer the second to the last movie came out and with it the Harry Potter brand gained momentum and you'll see plenty of Harry's this season.

3) Vampires - With the wildly popular Twilight series hitting the scene and the second movie due out in just a few weeks there will be many many vampires and creatures of the night stirring this year.

4) Star Trek - Again with the movie you see that Star Trek, which has always had a core brand following has momentum and plenty of trekkies will be knocking on doors for candy I'm sure.

5) Disney - Disney has such a cemented brand. I wonder how many little girls in the U.S. and around the globe want to be Disney Princesses?

6) Superheros - From Batman and Catwoman to Wonder Woman to Superman to X-men there are sure to be superheros on every corner this weekend.

7) Hannah Montana - Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana is so big she gets her own category. What a brand! Like it or not she is a superstar.

8) Movie/storybook characters - with the upcoming movie Alice in Wonderland coming out we'll see plenty of those along with Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, good old Wizard of Oz characters, etc.

9) The Role-Playing Costume - nurses, doctors, maids, prisoners, officers, you name it. These come in the more tame or naughty varieties. If you're out at adult parties you're likely to see the latter.

10) The Rockstar/Hippie - These ones both are popular year to year and that seems to be no exception this year.