I fractured a couple of my fingers recently and I’ve been working on a secret Halloween holiday project, so I’ve kept typing to a minimum. Be back soon with a rad deep-dive you all expect every week. In the meantime, enjoy this little gem!
If you lived in Portland in 1988, Freddy Krueger didn’t just invade your dreams, he crashed your holiday season. Local station KPDX 49 ran a bizarrely convoluted contest called Freddy’s Holiday Party, where you could win a “Holiday Party Kit” loaded with treasures like a Dream Master VHS tape, Freddy Krueger party hats, and official invitations straight from your nightmares.
To enter, all you had to do was tune in to Freddy’s Nightmares every Sunday at 6PM, jot down the episode title on a postcard (remember those?), and hand deliver it to a participating video store. Easy, right? Sure, if you had the patience of a saint and the determination of a sleep deprived Elm Street survivor.
It’s the kind of marketing fever dream only the late 80s could produce. Equal parts confusion and creative charm.
Although it took several replays to fully understand the rule, this commercial is a gem from a time when giveaways were creative. Thought you might appreciate this gem this Halloween season.
