Carvel, purveyor of ice cream novelties and inventor of the equal parts genius and terrifying Cookie Puss, has announced via press release that it’s collaborating with the Freeform channel on the latter’s “31 Nights of Halloween” October movie marathon. Carvel has released a Hocus Pocus Shake to enjoy alongside a viewing of the Disney movie starring the inimitable trio of Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy. Is this mashup exciting? It might be, if the milkshake itself were more novel (more on that below). Is this mashup hurting anyone? Surely not! Hocus Pocus is an oddly endearing and perplexingly enduring movie, and adding some black and orange sprinkles to the viewing experience sounds like a nice diversion right about now.
The Hocus Pocus Shake features a “magic portion of Carvel’s signature vanilla soft serve mixed with Oreo cookie pieces, topped with whipped cream and Halloween sprinkles, served in a 31 Nights Of Halloween X Hocus Pocus limited edition cup, from Sept. 28-Nov. 1, 2020.” So, basically, it’s an Oreo shake. With sprinkles. Got it. That sounds just fine! You might as well order it, right?
The movie Hocus Pocus came out in 1993, which makes 2020 the perfect year to release a promotional product around it. (Just ask the creators of Elf cereal and Mean Girls toaster strudel.) It’s not about recency, it’s about cult status, people!
So go ahead and order a Carvel milkshake to pair with Halloween’s weirdest perennial favorite. (Remember that pervy bus driver? What was that about?) And if you find your cross-promotional beverage lacking, we recommend Kahlua.