340 million Batman Costumes

July 27, 2017

Posted: November 4, 2016

The National Retail Federation has a treasure trove of Halloween trends, for instance, last year Halloween spending topped off at a staggering $6.9 Billion (source: nrf.com/resources/consumer-data).   A number so large should make any sane researcher think of one question: how many Batman costumes is that?  The number is 276 million adult or kid sized $25 Batman costumes (based on a quick Amazon search).  Which means the total retail money spent on Halloween in the US in 2015 is equivalent to every male in Russia, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, and Vietnam dressing up as Batman.   Back in September, The National Retail Federation projected that this year’s spending may increase to $8.4 billion (340 million Batman costumes), which means the whole of Italy can join the transcontinental Batman party mentioned previously.   Retail trends are affected by countless variables and the election this year is bound to play a role.  Although the jury is out on how many Hillary and Trump costumes were unleashed last weekend, one trend is undeniable: people can’t help but to listen to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ every Halloween.  I clicked on the ‘video statistics’ of the YouTube video, and sure enough there is a significant spike in clicks around Halloween time every year.   I recommend checking out other hit seasonal songs on YouTube to see if a similar trend can be found.  In the meantime, I’m going to get started on a Batman costume recycling startup!

Published on July 27th, 2017

Last updated on August 10th, 2017


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