Halloween has always been the ultimate time to celebrate the strange, scary and unusual, but just like everything in 2020, the holiday is stranger, scarier and more unusual than ever. To keep the spooky magic alive and celebrate the season, these brands got imaginative with their Halloween promotions:

• Burger King France is encouraging customers to dress up their rides and trick-or-treat in its drive-thru in exchange for a 20% discount. Watch a video of suggested car-stumes.
• Reese’s has unleashed a remote controlled trick-or-treat robot that will visit neighborhoods handing out king-size peanut butter cups. 
• Krispy Kreme’s idea of “reverse trick-or-treating” means offering a dozen donuts for $1 with the purchase of a box at full price, while encouraging customers to bring the other box to a friend’s door.

More socially distant celebrations: Sour Patch Kids, Kool-aid and iD Tech are also in on the action.

Explore more creative Halloween news and campaigns:

• Mars Temptations Made a Halloween Horror Movie—for Cats
• Mochi Ice Cream Takes a Cue From Frankenstein With Halloween Mashup Flavors
• Burger King Summons the Ghost of Ronald McDonald in a Bloody Mary Stunt
• Samsung Transforms 18th Century House Into Spooky Haunt Using Hi-Tech Projection
• Beer Brand Will Take Over Dracula’s Transylvania Castle This Halloween

We’re about halfway through the NFL regular season, meaning that marketers need to start ironing out their Super Bowl LV plays. For an event that requires vast planning even under normal circumstances, this year presents a whole host of new considerations: More people at home could translate to more viewers, but developing pitch-perfect creative and weighing the risk of a pandemic-related postponement are very real problems. Due to the late start to negotiations, ad commitments are lagging behind those CBS was looking at two years ago, but ViacomCBS has sold far more regular season inventory than it had last season, which could point to big spending for the big game.

A “scary” proposition: Nobody likes uncertainty, but that’s the world we’re living in.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Netflix has seen a surge in subscribers this year, prompting it to bump up costs for the first time since January 2019. The standard plan will increase by $1 to $14 per month, while the premium tier will jump up by $2 to $18 per month, though the basic plan will remain only $9. A spokesperson said the price boost will help the service create more and stronger content.

Priorities: Investor pressure might be a factor as well. 

Deutsch L.A. and Deutsch New York have been functioning fairly independently since Deutsch North America CEO Mike Sheldon left at the end of 2019, so the IPG-owned company is making things official by spinning off the two offices into separate agencies. New York CEO Val DiFebo told Adweek and L.A. CEO Kim Getty have exhibited “dynamic and independent leadership” since then, according to IPG COO and CEO-to-be Philippe Krakowsky.

What’s in the works: Learn how the two agencies differ and what’s next for each of them.

MDC Partners, which owns agencies including 72andSunny and Doner, saw its organic revenue drop 16.4% in Q3, though it was a rebound from Q2, which saw a 26% drop.

WPP reported a revenue decline of 9.8% for Q3 and a decline in organic revenue of 7.6% for the quarter.

Google parent Alphabet posted Q3 revenues of $46.2 billion, a 14% year-over-year revenue increase. 

Twitter brought in a walloping $936 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2020, up 37% since last quarter’s disappointing $683 million and up 14% year over year.

More of Today’s Top News & Highlights

• Exaggerated Emotions and Original Audio Lead to More Effective TikTok Ads, Report Finds
• Walmart’s New Test Stores Signal Its Ambition in Omnichannel Retail
• NBCUniversal CEO Talks ‘Much Smaller’ Upfront, Calls Peacock ‘the Opposite of Quibi’
• Ad-Tech Firms Are Paying Their Bills, but Concerns Linger
• Judy Sheindlin Heading to IMDb TV After Judge Judy Ends Next Year

In the last few days before the election, Oreo went straight for the heartstrings in a new ad inviting Americans to “come together.” In the animated ad that shows stuffed animals being handed out as carnival game prizes, a donkey and an elephant resolve their differences to help a friend in need. Watch it here.

In the sports realm there are many winners—athletes, teams, leagues, media, and of course, brand marketers. This year, however, has tested the mettle of all sports pros.

Join the foremost sports figures and marketers at the Brandweek Sports Marketing Summit and Upfronts, a live virtual experience on Nov. 16-19, for four days of Main Stage insights on navigating a year of upsets and transformation, expert-led masterclasses, virtual experiences and more.

Get BOGO passes when you register with a friend or colleague and use code TEAMBOGO at checkout. (Offer expires 11/3)

Online campaign and PSA video aim to preserve queer safe spaces in the pandemic.

The spot focuses on the joy of small moments at home.

The nonpartisan organization encourages more Americans to cast their ballots.

The two are teaming up for the software company's annual analytics competition.

A new view on accessibility vs. exclusivity.

'The political damage is incalculable.'