An emergency sweet service has been launched to assist adults in cities where children are not impressed with the Halloween treats available.
A survey of 1,000 children aged six to 16 revealed that Brighton is the top city for trick or treating, followed by Liverpool and Leeds. However, Bristol, Birmingham, and London scored the lowest.
In response, HARIBO has teamed up with delivery service Gopuff to launch ‘TreatLine’, a service where adults can purchase ‘Monsters Approved’ sweets such as Sour Skeletons from the app to boost their trick-or-treat rating.
On 31st October, sweets will be given out free of charge in the three lowest scoring locations, with over 24,000 mini bags available to provide a fair reward to trick or treaters.
The initiative comes after research showed that half of the adults surveyed confessed to closing the curtains to pretend they were not home to avoid trick-or-treaters.
Meanwhile, residents of Manchester were the most hesitant to take their children out to collect treats, and 32 per cent of children in Sheffield believed that locals did not put in enough effort for Halloween.
Phil Murphy, from HARIBO UK and Ireland, stated: “To help save Halloween this year, we want to help grown-ups match the effort kids go to and reward them fairly. Launching the ‘TreatLine’ is just one of the ways we’re making it even easier to do this, taking pressure off adults to also have a little more time themselves to have some fun.”
Interestingly, 14 per cent of adults have never taken their kids out for trick or treating, while 16 per cent have only done so on occasion. And in some areas, 20 per cent of respondents feel that Halloween isn’t widely celebrated.
Despite this, more than a quarter (26 per cent) of adults put in a great deal of effort for the spooky season, and 45 per cent make ‘some’ effort, even though 70 per cent see it as an important night for the youngsters.
Phil Murphy from HARIBO UK and Ireland commented: “Halloween gets bigger and bigger every year, we’re helping grown-ups see the childlike joy and happiness in all the fun to be had, no matter your age.”