Top Marketing Moments: Friday the 13th Edition | 2-minute read

This week, we’re leaning all the way into the fear factor. Because nothing says ‘marketing opportunity’ like a cursed calendar date.

Here’s how brand have used superstition to their advantage in years gone by:

National Lottery

For the EuroMillions draw, the UK National Lottery launched a special promotion buy two or more online EuroMillions lines and you and you’d automatically enter a draw to win one of 13 luxury holidays to Thailand.

Everyone loves the spin on “unlucky”. This incentive flips it to lucky. A luxury getaway? That’s not just a prize but for most, it’s a fantasy.

This is how you use calendar events like Friday the 13^th, not as a gimmick, but as a launchpad for prestige. You turn superstition into aspiration and make luck something that looks, and sounds, like a win.

Street Food Cinema

For Friday the 13th (yep, the real), Street Food Cinema is throwing a love letter to the horror gods by teaming up with Paramount Scares and Bloody Disgusting to celebrate 45 years of Jason Voorhees with an outdoor movie screening.

It’s not just a movie night it’s an immersive horrorverse. Photo ops. Cocktails. Trivia. Merch. Food trucks. It taps straight into the Gen Z and millennial craving for experiences. Plus, horror fans? Loyal. Loud. And very online.

Chipotle

Chipotle celebrated the occasion with a one-hour BOGO burrito promotion at 13 of their U.S. stores for anyone “tatted like a Chipotle bag.” That meant permanent ink, temporary tats, or even rackets drawn in marker just show it to get a free entrée with purchase.

They leaned into the meme from Maroon 5’s Adam Levine halftime look (“tatted like a Chipotle bag”) and took it next level with 13 limited-edition flash tattoos, brand-themed designs you could wear or stick on.

Why it works:

• 13 (tattoos), on the 13th, at 13 venues? Scarily good timing perfect for F13 hype.
• Permanent? Temporary? Marker? Doesn’t matter. Everyone could join, which drives insane foot traffic. No barriers.
• They didn’t invent this. They leaned into it. Tapping into a viral meme about Adam Levine gave their campaign cultural DNA and credibility.

And plenty of other brands have previously made the most of Friday the 13^th on socials…