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Halloween Horror Nights 29 General Discussion

I guess these days they have Mascots more than Icons. Bones from 27 and maybe Chucky for 28. Voodoo Queen from 24, so on and so forth. I really believe Icons will be exclusive to anniversary years from here on out.

The marketing is more like it was in the '90s now--'92 and '93 had a pumpkin being chainsawed, '94 had a skull face in the archway, '97 had a gremlin creature, '98 had a screaming face, '99 had the Mummy.
 
The marketing is more like it was in the '90s now--'92 and '93 had a pumpkin being chainsawed, '94 had a skull face in the archway, '97 had a gremlin creature, '98 had a screaming face, '99 had the Mummy.
Pretty funny you mention that, 'cause I believe many said last year felt more like those years.
 
Universal has been trying to hammer in the point that the event is pretty much the icon, that including the ips, Stranger Things had been that icon along with what other ip comes with it, I don't wanna say Icons couldn't return in the future but in this case with Marketing in charge of what they want at the event more than what A&D want, it comes down to whatever Marketing wants, it sucks but it's been like that, Bones would have been a perfect icon, I think he had the look, it reminded me of something of the icons that Singapore gets at their event, I mean they praise the usage for icons, so much so that they usually have 4 icons, where we would just a get one for each event year in the past except for the anniversary years that is.

I really wouldn't doubt them putting out an announcement around this time and randomly too since they dropped those Stranger Things artworks, lets hope, fingers crossed lol.
 
I really hated that Stranger Things was on the lanyard last year. I wanted the other ones but didn’t want to pay all that money for that big old blinky thing. It was the first year I didn’t get one, so Universal missed out on my $12.
 
Universal has been trying to hammer in the point that the event is pretty much the icon, that including the ips, Stranger Things had been that icon along with what other ip comes with it, I don't wanna say Icons couldn't return in the future but in this case with Marketing in charge of what they want at the event more than what A&D want, it comes down to whatever Marketing wants, it sucks but it's been like that, Bones would have been a perfect icon, I think he had the look, it reminded me of something of the icons that Singapore gets at their event, I mean they praise the usage for icons, so much so that they usually have 4 icons, where we would just a get one for each event year in the past except for the anniversary years that is.

I really wouldn't doubt them putting out an announcement around this time and randomly too since they dropped those Stranger Things artworks, lets hope, fingers crossed lol.
I wouldn't be surprised if the classic icons return next year.

If you think about it though, Icons were used as a..well..icon to market the event around. Nowadays the IPs are really the thing that bring people in, so it negates the use of an icon so as not to distract from the IPs that they're trying to push.

You really start to see this trend Post-Potter, I'm not sure that's an accident.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the classic icons return next year.

If you think about it though, Icons were used as a..well..icon to market the event around. Nowadays the IPs are really the thing that bring people in, so it negates the use of an icon so as not to distract from the IPs that they're trying to push.

You really start to see this trend Post-Potter, I'm not sure that's an accident.
That is, for the most part, true. But I also feel they served the purpose of being the host of the Halloween party. I also feel like they became more to fans of the event over time. Fans enjoyed the characters and stories around them. Kinda one of those, meant for marketing purposes thing and became more than that. That being said, you are right though, and the IPs this year certainly market themselves.
 
You really start to see this trend Post-Potter, I'm not sure that's an accident.
One - Post-Potter, Universal doesn’t have to rely on HHN to stay in the black.

Two - As a result of getting in the black, Universal had more funds available to license bigger IPs. Those IPs are what actually differentiate from every other haunt in the country.

Three - Bringing in bigger IPs, brought in more people. That reinforces the profitability of the IPs.
 
One - Post-Potter, Universal doesn’t have to rely on HHN to stay in the black.

Two - As a result of getting in the black, Universal had more funds available to license bigger IPs. Those IPs are what actually differentiate from every other haunt in the country.

Three - Bringing in bigger IPs, brought in more people. That reinforces the profitability of the IPs.
Pretty much this. As much as I and many others prefer the original Icons, the IPs have become the Icons now. And honestly, as much as I don't care for it, it makes perfect business sense.
 
Pretty much this. As much as I and many others prefer the original Icons, the IPs have become the Icons now. And honestly, as much as I don't care for it, it makes perfect business sense.

I believe Icons, lore, and maybe a certain show are a once-every-five-years sort of situation for anniversaries. Every year being limited by decades of history and precedent is limiting, but having fun every five years and throwing a bone to fans sounds like their new MO.
 
I believe Icons, lore, and maybe a certain show are a once-every-five-years sort of situation for anniversaries. Every year being limited by decades of history and precedent is limiting, but having fun every five years and throwing a bone to fans sounds like their new MO.
I guess it could make the anniversaries all the more special as well.
 
I'm a Caretaker stan, and even I'll admit the only icon who ever really "clicked" was Jack. You limit the the creativity of the event by locking in an original house to a character who can be an icon, and you run the risk of ruining marketing with a bad choice. On the flip side, as long as you do the 3 or 4 IP approach with marketing, at least one IP likely to appeal John Q Public.

Much like the online reveal games, it's a lot of effort that appeals most to hard-core fans who are going to go anyway.
 
I'm a Caretaker stan, and even I'll admit the only icon who ever really "clicked" was Jack. You limit the the creativity of the event by locking in an original house to a character who can be an icon, and you run the risk of ruining marketing with a bad choice. On the flip side, as long as you do the 3 or 4 IP approach with marketing, at least one IP likely to appeal John Q Public.

Much like the online reveal games, it's a lot of effort that appeals most to hard-core fans who are going to go anyway.
I think there's something to Jack being around for two years originally....And you can't deny that people are also very very afraid of clowns, 12 percent of adults in the United States don't even like to see a picture of one. In a survey done by Chapman University, 42 percent of 1,511 people were more afraid of clowns than a terrorist attack haha.

So I'm not surprised that Jack took off.
 
I want to see new icons host the event. The only reason icons aren’t popular amongst new fans is because they’re non-existent.

The event benefits from the cohesiveness of a theme and an icon, whether the execs at Universal want to believe that or not. You can have IPs, icons, an overall theme, and original content all in one event and still make a butt ton of money.
 
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