Reese’s announced its search for the Trick-or-Treatiest Street in America on Thursday in an Instagram statement, naming actress Christina Ricci among the members of its first-ever Halloween Council. The council will evaluate 150 streets before announcing the winner on Oct. 21.

Consumer competitions are back, giving audiences an active role in brand campaigns. Entertainment talent and digital creators can widen participation by connecting those campaigns with the audiences that already follow them.

Reese’s assembled its first Halloween Council with actors Christina Ricci and Kathy Najimy alongside digital creators Rachel Iwanyszyn, Zaire Alford and Macy Blackwell. The group will evaluate the streets based on factors including decorations, trick-or-treater traffic, Halloween spirit and social media activity.

Ricci and Najimy bring decades-long connections to Halloween entertainment, while the three creators reach audiences through fashion, food and lifestyle content. Samantha Siegal , senior director of marketing for Reese’s, said to me in an email the group gives the council perspectives on established Halloween culture and how the holiday is shared today.

“Rather than building a Council entirely around traditional celebrities, we wanted that mix of perspectives,” Siegal said.

Ricci enters the council with a Halloween résumé spanning more than three decades. She played Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , followed by roles in Casper and Sleepy Hollow . She currently stars as Misty Quigley in Yellowjackets , whose fourth and final season premieres in November and has “ratcheted up,” Ricci said, describing it as “very shocking and very surprising.”

Ricci said to me in an interview that Reese’s approached her about the campaign. She celebrates Halloween with her children and counts carving jack-o’-lanterns as her favorite tradition, giving her personal experience with the traditions the council may consider when evaluating communities.

Ricci also reaches 1.8 million followers on Instagram, the only social platform she said she uses. Her following gives Reese another audience for the campaign outside her film and television work. She said social media lets actors connect with those audiences more personally.

“As an actor, you used to be known as your characters and those are not you,” Ricci said. “With social media, you’re literally showing yourself. So it sort of breaks that fourth wall.”

Ricci collaborated with the council’s digital creators and said they discussed their work and interests. The collaboration puts actors who developed their audiences in film and television alongside creators who developed theirs on social media.

Reese’s will document the council’s evaluation and final selection in a two-part social media series. Siegal said the council members can introduce the search to audiences who may not have encountered the campaign otherwise and prompt people to consider how their own neighborhoods celebrate Halloween.

The company plans to measure engagement, reach and interactions with the campaign. Siegal said another indicator will be whether audiences start discussing their own streets and what makes their neighborhoods stand out. The strategy gives people outside the 150 communities under consideration a way to participate in the campaign.

Hershey’s consumer research points to community participation as one factor Americans value during Halloween. In an online survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Hershey, 41% of U.S. adults surveyed said a neighborhood where everyone participates helps make the best Halloween block in America. The survey included 3,026 U.S. adults and was conducted July 8–10.

Siegal connected the finding to the campaign. “What makes Halloween special is still rooted in participation and community,” she said.

The search uses candy, costume and décor purchases, Census data, walkability, local reputation and a separate survey of 15,000 residents to identify the street contenders. The council will evaluate the contenders before one community receives a Reese’s block party in partnership with Zillow .

Several brand and entertainment campaigns are using consumer competitions in 2026 to give audiences an active role across social media and in-person experiences.

This summer, Popsicle’s Flavor Feud asked consumers to support teams led by Stassi Schroeder, Drew Afualo and Ashlee Simpson with votes, purchases and social media activity. Dr. Squatch followed in August with SPEEDRUN: Million Dollar Mission , a nine-week competition with IShowSpeed including social media, retail and real-world challenges for a share of $1 million.

Entertainment properties have used the format as well. CBS launched a nationwide idol hunt ahead of Survivor 50 , asking fans to find immunity idols hidden across the country.

Reese’s applies the competition format to a familiar Halloween tradition, using entertainment talent and digital creators to connect the national search with established audiences. For brands, consumer competitions can give audiences a direct role in a campaign and encourage participation across platforms.