The news: Fanta is launching a “Haunted Universe,” complete with original IP, to establish itself as the go-to beverage for the spooky season.

As part of the expanded entertainment platform, the brand is introducing four original characters—including a cyborg Frankenstein and werewolf DJ—who will feature in this year’s and future Halloween campaigns.

In addition to the trailer, this year’s campaign will feature collectible packaging, a limited-time flavor, the return of the brand’s Haunted Fanta Factory experience, and a variety of content exploring the characters and their backstories.

The strategy: Fanta hopes to become as closely associated with Halloween as sister brand Coca-Cola is with Christmas, Ibrahim Khan, global vice president of marketing at Fanta, told Business Insider. Creating its own stable of characters allows the brand to create a distinct identity it can build on year after year, tying Fanta closer to the holiday in consumers’ minds while simplifying Halloween campaign planning for the future.

Crucially, building a world around the brand rather than the product itself opens new avenues for engagement and user-generated content. Khan told Adweek that Fanta is finding value in content that fans “can participate in,” noting that the brand “made one ad, but fans made 100,000 ads for us on platforms like TikTok.” Those efforts are enabling Fanta to reach a broader audience while helping forge deeper connections with Gen Z.

Will it work? The success of Fanta’s Haunted Universe could ultimately hinge on how consumers feel about the brand’s use of AI. The brand collaborated with AI entertainment studio GRAiL on the campaign, although Khan emphasized that the technology was used to create richer content and experiences rather than as a shortcut.

However, the speed with which YouTube viewers labeled the trailer AI slop suggests that this year’s campaign may struggle to gain the same enthusiasm as previous efforts featuring well-known IP like Chucky and Beetlejuice. The campaign also risks offending Gen Z consumers: 74% react negatively to AI-made marketing, while 72% have taken action against a brand because of it, per a July Rival Technologies survey.

Implications for marketers: Building an entertainment platform that can transcend a single campaign is a smart move for a brand like Fanta as it looks to reach younger audiences and bolster its association with Halloween. But the approach depends on consumers embracing the world Fanta creates. Relying too heavily on AI-generated marketing—and, more importantly, on content that looks and feels as though it has been AI-generated—risks triggering a backlash that undermines those brand-building efforts.