Every year from the 31st of October to the 2nd of November, we pay tribute to the ones who have touched our lives but have passed on. Different cultures have different names to call this day. The United States has Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve, Latin America calls it the Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos and where we’re from, the Philippines, we call it Undás.

This tradition of celebrating the ones who have passed on was practiced thousands of years ago by indigenous peoples such as the Aztecs and the Toltecs. They believed that death was not the end of one’s life but rather just a chapter of it.

We’ve seen it in movies like The Book of Life and Coco. Families would place pictures of their beloved ones who have passed on in what they call an ofrenda, which is like an altar but to honor those who have gone ahead. In the movie Coco, we saw that the dead are able to travel to the mortal realm in order to visit their loved ones once a year.

I believe in this tradition. I’d like to think that once a year, the people I miss dearly come to visit me - of course, in a none-scary-horror-movie type way but rather in a sense that they visit to check on me.

In the Philippines, during undás, it is tradition to visit cemeteries and stay there for hours at a time to celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have gone ahead. We would have picnics, pray the rosary, catch up with our relatives and just share memories of the ones we’ve lost.

As Pandas now living away from home, we can’t visit our loved ones in the cemeteries they’re buried in. So, this is our own little way of paying tribute to the ones we’ve lost in the past.

We would also like to dedicate a special tribute to that friend who taught us “Pilosopy”. In Filipino, the term “pilosopo” means “to be sarcastic”. Most of us learned how to answer questions sarcastically from Chandler Muriel Bing of the 90’s sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S, played by Matthew Perry, who sadly passed away last October 28.

Halloween ?️, the spooktacular, spine-tingling celebration that creeps into our lives every late October, has a history that's more thrilling than a ghost story by the campfire. What started as a mystical Celtic ritual called Samhain has taken a bewitching journey through time, evolving into the commercialized and creatively branded extravaganza we adore today. ??

A bit of history...

Halloween's roots go back to the ancient Celtic bash known as Samhain, a festival marking the end of the harvest season. On the night of October 31st, it was believed that the veil between the living and the dead was at its flimsiest, allowing spirits to wander among us. ??

During these ancient times, people lit bonfires and donned costumes as their ghostly disguises to keep those wayward spirits at bay (not to go around houses and ask for candy ?). They also carved turnips (not pumpkins) into spooky faces, displaying them in windows to ward off spirits ?.

Halloween was no plain pumpkin when it interacted with various traditions over the years. It collided with the Roman festival of Feralia, honoring the dearly departed, and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, morphing into All Hallows' Eve, which eventually got its trendy abbreviation - Halloween.

With Irish immigrants flooding the U.S. in the 19th century, Halloween's popularity surged. It took on a secular and commercial character, adopting the costume-clad parades and the infamous trick-or-treating tradition we know and love today. As a result, marketing and branding turned Halloween into a holiday shopping spree. ??

As I mentioned, turnips were carved instead of pumpkins but when the Irish immigrants came to the U.S., they found out that pumpkins were more readily available to carve at the end of October (pumpkins are planted from May through June which makes them fully mature by October) which brings us to why the usual color scheme for Halloween is orange ?.

These pumpkins are also often called jack-o-lanterns and this involves an Irish and Scottish story of a character named Stingy Jack who was a notorious trickster that managed to outwit the Devil ? on multiple occasions. When Jack died, he was neither admitted to Heaven nor Hell. As a result, he was condemned to wander the Earth with only a burning coal inside a hollowed-out turnip to light his way. Fun fact, this is also where Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas got his name.

In today’s time, carved pumpkins are used to decorate houses for Halloween. Decorated houses usually means that the people who live there are giving out candies and goodies to kids who are trick-or-treating. With a bit of research, we found that there are not only orange pumpkins but different colors as well, that are used for awareness whilst in the hunt for goodies.

Here are some of them:

• Teal Pumpkin
  This awareness campaign was started by the Teal Pumpkin Project, a Food Allergy Research & Education organization (FARE) initiative. This color means that the house has food-allergen-friendly options for trick-or-treaters. Similarly, if you see a child trick-or-treating with a teal-colored bucket, this means that the child has a food allergy.
• Blue Pumpkin ?
  An awareness campaign started by, Autism Speaks, blue pumpkins signify that the child inside the house isn’t participating in trick-or-treating and might be easily agitated by the ringing of the doorbell or it could also mean that the house supports trick-or-treaters who are within the spectrum. Similarly, kids with blue buckets mean that the child carrying it is on the autism spectrum and may need a grown up’s assistance to go trick-or-treating.
• Purple Pumpkin ?
  Launched by a parent of a child with epilepsy, the Purple Pumpkin Project seeks to raise awareness and money for the Epilepsy Foundation. A home with a purple pumpkin indicates support for the cause or that someone who lives has or knows someone that suffers from epilepsy.
• Yellow Pumpkin ?
  Houses with yellow pumpkins advocate and raise awareness for the disabled and at the same time, a child with a yellow bucket may signify that they need a little extra compassion.

If your brand wants to join the haunted hype this Halloween, here are some wickedly good tips to get you started:

1. Themed Products and Promotions ?: Create Halloween-themed products, services, or promotions that'll enchant your audience.
2. Engage on Social Media ?: Spook up your social media presence! Share eerie stories, costume ideas, and hold fang-tastic contests and giveaways.
3. Collaborate with Influencers ?: Partner up with influencers who thrive during Halloween. They'll help you cast your marketing spell on a targeted audience.
4. Decorate Your Space ?: If you've got a physical store or office, transform it into a Halloween wonderland. Attract curious souls and create an eerie atmosphere. ??
5. Spooky Content ?: Serve up Halloween-themed content that's as thrilling as a haunted house tour. Share ghostly tales, how-to guides, and other content that engages your audience's spooky side.
6. Charitable Initiatives ?: Consider tying your brand to charitable initiatives during Halloween. Show your commitment to the community and create a brand image that's sweeter than a sack of candy! ??

Halloween is a howling good time with a history as intriguing as a ghost hunt in a creepy mansion. The symbolism of differently colored pumpkins adds a delightful twist, offering endless possibilities for marketers. By adopting a bewitching branding strategy, your brand can cast a spell on audiences and become part of this ghoulishly grand celebration. ??

Do you remember that scene in The Princess Diaries when Queen Clarisse was scolding Mia for the Baker Beach Bash scandal? She said, "a picture is worth a thousand words, and you have two!"

Well, that's how we feel about your brand. ⭐

It all starts with your logo; when someone looks at your logo, it should embody everything you stand for as a person and as a company. If your brand voice and language is fun then your logo shouldn't be serious, right? ?

Then your website, SEO, content and social media will depend on your brand tone, voice, and language also.

What we're trying to say is: everything we do at Creative Pandas is connected to each other in order to create the story of your brand. How you want your customers to see you, what you want them to do in your website, what you want them to see when they visit your Instagram, Facebook, X (aka Twitter), or TikTok and what you want them to discover when they search for something on Google that's related to what you do.

To us, your brand is our brand. We'll take care of it like its ours. It's personalized to your liking and comfortability because we do tons of research (aka chit-chats ?) with you in order for us to have a feel of who you are as a person and what you want your brand to convey to your customers. We'll answer any questions you have and be there with you every step of the way. All this happens before we dive in to creating your logo, website, SEO, content and social media.

We just launched Creative Pandas today and we're excited to meet you and go on this epic journey to tell your stories to the world wide web.

Sincerely,

The Pandas ?