Halloween Candy Strategy

by Katie Bowell, Curator of Cultural Interpretation

Last year we helped prepare you for Halloween by scientifically showing that a pillowcase is the optimal collection vessel for maximum candy acquiring. This year? It’s all about developing a candy-specific strategy.

Hershey’s conducted a national survey to find out of correlations could be drawn between the types of houses people visit during Halloween, and the types of candy they get. The results? Visit a house with black shutters and you’re 77% more likely to get a Kit Kat. Stop by a ranch house, and those odds drop to 32%. If a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is more your style, you’ll want to be sure to visit two-story houses; they’re 26% more likely to have that candy than the ranch house that will probably give you the Kit Kat will. And finally, if all you want is a chocolate bar, try houses with brown doors. Whether or not people are matching their candy to their doors is still unknown, but it is known that you’re 32% more likely to get a Hershey’s bar than if you go to a house with a non-brown door.

Now, this study only look at Hershey’s brand candies, so the data is incomplete. What we need is a big-scale, repeatable experiment that compares multiple candy and housing variables. Its a big (and yummy) job, but someone has to do it. Now, who’s with me?!