Online retailer FancyDress.com is hosting what it claims is “the world’s first interactive Twitter Séance or “Twéance” on October 30th – the day before Halloween.
The Twéance allows participants to nominate the names of their favorite “departed stars” along with a question they would like them to be asked by “renowned psychic medium Jayne Wallace.” Participants are asked to simply tweet this to @tweance.
FancyDress says a shortlist of “those departed spirits” that have received the most nominations will be published on the site the week before Halloween. Participants are asked to follow @tweance on the morning of Friday October 30th to see if their question is asked, and “what answer is returned.”
Clearly this is a social media marketing tactic to sell Halloween costumes, many of which they do offer. While October 30th doesn’t leave much time for shipping for Halloween, the campaign was no doubt announced in advance to drive curiosity and traffic to the site. It has probably worked though. It’s getting press.
Some people are likely to find this marketing tactic a bit tacky, considering the noticeably large amount of celebrities that have died this year. Although to be fair, they have not limited the Twéance to (or even mentioned by name) the recently deceased. Halloween is widely considered to be the more morbid holiday anyway.
What do you think? Good holiday-themed social media marketing or tasteless exploitation? Share your thoughts.
