Colgate has turned the foam from a child’s toothbrush into a Halloween costume. In its new ads, toothpaste froth drips from a boy’s mouth in the shape of white vampire fangs. A girl wears hers as a wide, unsettling grin stretching across her cheeks, like the Joker’s.
The Fight Every Parent Knows
Halloween night ends the same way in a lot of homes. The children come back from trick-or-treating with bags of sweets, buzzing on sugar, and the last thing they want to do is brush their teeth.
Colgate built the campaign around that standoff. Instead of telling children to brush after the party, it makes brushing look like part of the party.
How Much Sugar Halloween Brings
The campaign points to a reported average of 144 teaspoons of sugar eaten by a child on Halloween. That matches an often quoted estimate that a trick or treating child can eat around 3 cups of sugar, or about 675 grams, on the night.
That figure comes from retail industry estimates, not a scientific study. Even so, it is the scale of the problem Colgate is selling against.
What the Ads Show
The ads are close up shots of children mid brush, with the toothpaste foam shaped into Halloween looks. One child has dripping vampire fangs. Another has a grin that climbs up to her ears.
Each ad pairs the image with the line “Don’t let treats become tricks this Halloween” and a tube of Colgate Little Smiles, the brand’s toothpaste for young children.
The foam does the work a costume would. A child who would argue about brushing has a reason to look in the mirror, and a parent has a way to sell the habit without a lecture.
Colgate’s Halloween Habit
This is not the first time Colgate has used Halloween to make brushing more fun. In 2023, Colgate Palmolive in China released a limited edition Halloween toothpaste with pumpkin packaging and breath strips shaped like wizard hats and ghosts. The design by Guangzhou Designest went on to win an iF Design Award.
The same year, Colgate in Asia launched a Halloween toothpaste containing water soluble glitter. It was designed to clean teeth and double as festive makeup, with packaging that could be turned into props for photos.
The new campaign takes a simpler route. It needs no special product, only the toothpaste children already use and a little imagination at the sink.
The Team Behind It
VML created the campaign for Colgate.
Halloween is the one night of the year when children want to look scary. Colgate gave them a way to do it with a toothbrush in their hand.
Campaign Name: Not mentioned
Agency Name: VML
Brand Name: Colgate (Little Smiles toothpaste)
Location: Not mentioned (October 2026)
