Sugar Fuelled Extortionists

The sheer omnipresence of Halloween this year is testimony to the power of marketing - and the lure of that sugar fix - but I am proud to say none of my clients chose to use the occasion for PR purposes. Just too tacky by far! There is a real sense of cynicism about the exploitation of the 31st October this year that could have backfired on any attempt to hitch on to this ghoulish bandwagon.

Miraculously I have so far managed to avoid the trick or treaters - not least by dawdling and discovering something fascinating on the pavement as I returned home to discover a gaggle of sugar-fuelled extortionists on my doorstep.

If that sounds uncharitable these youngsters were old enough to be out without an escort and I agree with Thames Valley Police that if you are too old to be accompanied by an adult, you are too old to be trick or treating! It also explains their tenacity in the face of a poster from Thames Valley Police discouraging such callers. Which incidentally is the scariest thing I have seen this Halloween!

Anyway, I digress, I was tickled to read via Reuters news blog about the trick or treaters mistaken for would-be bank robbers in Berlin. Kinda think the armed response would have been scarier than any trick they could have conjured up.