Fanta builds its own Halloween universe after Chucky tie-ins

Coca-Cola's Fanta is moving beyond licensed horror movie partnerships to create its own cast of Halloween characters. The soda brand will introduce four original personas as part of what it calls the Fanta Haunted Universe, a collection of products and content, with live experiences building on last year's Haunted Fanta Factory.

Ibrahim Khan, global VP of marketing at Fanta, told Business Insider the brand wants Halloween to become an enduring platform comparable to Coca-Cola's Christmas campaigns. "We want to be able to give a consistent experience to consumers, one that we can grow year on year on year for many, many Halloweens to come," he said. "In order to do that, it almost necessitated that we would start world-building of our own."

Fanta worked with the AI entertainment studio GRAiL to design the characters. The lineup includes a reimagined Frankenstein's monster and a vampire, each with original backstories. A horror-movie-style trailer debuts Monday showing menacing jack-o'-lanterns rampaging through city streets, a DJing werewolf, and two onlookers drinking Fanta.

The move is part of a broader shift in how the brand markets itself. Khan said Fanta has stopped using TV ads in some parts of the U.S. and China, instead prioritizing social content that fans can remix and share. "Brands don't hold the mic anymore. Our audiences do," he said.

Fanta's Halloween push has already generated organic buzz. One fan account on X received more than 400,000 views for a post anticipating the rollout. Fanta's social media mentions spiked more than 500% that day, according to analytics firm Sprout Social. "Fans are asking, what is Fanta going to do next Halloween?" Khan said. "When we see engagement like that and the impact it has on the brand and the business, that's what tells us that we need to invest behind something that is more long-term."

Fanta is not abandoning licensed Hollywood IP. Khan said a yet-unnamed character from pop culture will also appear in this year's campaign. "It's not that we're going to be exclusively creators now," he said. "The exciting part of what we're trying to do is that we're trying to combine the two."

Themed soda cans and collectible rewards will roll out over the next three months. Live experiences will expand on the Haunted Fanta Factory, which Fanta launched last year to attract horror fans.

Khan now refers to Fanta as an entertainment brand, not a beverage company. He said a Fanta movie is possible in the future, though no plans are in place. The strategy echoes what Lego and Barbie have done with their own narrative universes.

Whether the new characters can match the pull of established names like Chucky or M3gan remains unclear. Khan acknowledged the brand is testing whether original personas can drive repeat engagement. The marketing initiative does not directly affect Coca-Cola stock, which carries an AlphaScala Alpha Score of 67 with a Moderate label. The push into owned IP signals a deeper bet on Gen Z engagement through entertainment.