Princesses, superheroes lead the candy brigade
Special Photo
From staff reports
ALBANY — It’s nearly time for half-pints to hit the neighborhoods dressed up as their favorite characters. Get ready for another plethora of princesses and superheroes dropping by for candy on Oct. 31.
After all, why change a good thing?
“Halloween celebrations are primarily for children, and we see many of the same costume choices year after year,” Prosper Insights Executive Vice President for Strategy Phil Rist said. “Grown-ups who celebrate may be looking for new ideas, but for children, princesses and superheroes are perennial favorites.”
Of the $8.8 billion that Americans will spend celebrating Halloween, the biggest chunk — $3.2 billion — will be devoted to dressing up children, grown-ups and pets as characters, according to an annual Halloween spending survey conducted for the National Retail Federation. Of the $86.27 that the average celebrant will spend, $31.02 of it will go toward tiaras, capes, masks and other costume items.
With children, the princess is still queen. About 3.1 million children will dress up as their favorite princess. Superheroes come in No. 2 with 2.4 million kids. Spider-Man is the most popular superhero, followed by other Avengers characters, 1.5 million, and Batman, 1.4 million.
The top 10 choices for kids this year are:
♦ Princess – 7.9%
♦ Superhero – 6%
♦ Spider-Man – 5.2%
♦ Avengers character (excluding Spider-Man) – 3.9%
♦ Batman – 3.5%
♦ Witch – 3.3%
♦ Ghost – 2.8%
♦ Vampire – 2.2%
♦ “Frozen” character (Elsa, Anna) – 2.2%
♦ Pirate – 2.1%
Just under half — 47% — of adults responding to the survey plan to get into disguise for the haunted holiday. The perennial favorites are still the most popular.
About 5 million adults plan to dress like a witch, with 2 million biting on the idea of being a vampire, 1.8 million taking off as a superhero, 1.5 million pilfering the notion of being a pirate and 1.4 million stumbling into an evening as a zombie.
The top 10 adult choices are:
♦ Witch – 8.9%
♦ Vampire – 3.6%
♦ Superhero – 3.1%
♦ Pirate – 2.7%
♦ Zombie – 2.5%
♦ Ghost – 2%
♦ Avengers character (excluding Spider-Man) – 2%
♦ Princess – 1.9%
♦ Cat – 1.8%
♦ Spider-Man – 1.7%
While some may say man’s best friend shouldn’t have to suffer the indignity, many pets will be dressed up for the holiday, too. The survey found that 29 million people plan to have their pets in costume for Halloween.
Their top choices (no guarantee the pets agree):
♦ Pumpkin – 9.3%
♦ Hot dog – 7.2%
♦ Superhero – 7.2%
♦ Bumble Bee – 3.9%
♦ Cat – 3.2%
♦ Witch – 2.5%
♦ Lion – 2.2%
♦ Dog – 2.1%
♦ Devil – 2%
♦ Shark – 1.7%
The survey of 7,419 consumers was conducted Sept. 3-10 by Prosper Insights & Analytics for the NRF and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
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