• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, September 9, 2024

Photo credit: Angie McMonigal

Every trick-or-treater knows candy corn is polarizing. But those who love it really love it, so Brach’s is turning the triangular candy into a fall getaway: an orange, white and yellow suite at two Great Wolf Lodge resorts.

Each room booking, priced at $349 a night and available later this month, includes a dedicated parking space, a membership in Brach’s Candy Corn Club, and a year-long supply of candy.

“We know candy corn is a big indicator of the fall season and that fall activity enthusiasts like to travel,” says Chad Womack, Brach’s marketing director. “It just seemed like a natural for us to be able to partner with Great Wolf Lodge.”

Brach’s, owned by Ferrara Candy, is based in Chicago, as is Great Wolf, “so we have the affinity of partnering with someone in our backyard.”

And while the limited time frame and locations mean relatively few people will get a taste of the sweet-dream experience, the hope is that their photos make their way into social media.  “If you stay there, you're going to want to take a picture and share with folks,” Womack says.

He concedes that many people just hate candy corn and think the confection, which is made almost entirely from sugar, corn syrup and some artificial dyes and flavors, is just too sweet. However, company research finds that 64% say they enjoy the seasonal candy and that those who like it are 96% more likely to pursue other seasonal activities, like apple picking, pumpkin patch visits and fall festivals. And almost half of candy corn superfans travel in the fall.

Womack tells Marketing Daily the company chose both locations -- Gurnee, Illinois and Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains -- for their popularity in the fall.

Other candy brands have long used experiential marketing; some -- notably M&M’s -- have gone the retail route. But it’s the first such effort for Brach’s Candy Corn, although the company plans more. The company has done other tie-ins, such as candy canes linked to “Elf” and Conversation Hearts with a “Friends” theme.

This year, recipes featuring the candy will again be crucial, popping up on social-media channels. Brach’s is “all about connection and celebration, and one way that happens each season – especially Halloween -- is through baking."

While the hotel experience focuses on the classic candy corn formulation, many recipes will highlight a new launch, Brach’s Mellowcreme Autumn Leaves. “This new shape is hitting just as people get serious about leaf-peeping,” he says. “And we’ve got plenty of fall-inspired flavors -- caramel apple, sweet maple, salted butterscotch, pumpkin spice, spiced apple and -- in the Mellowcreme format.”