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Six Flags wants your screams, and not just on its roller coasters.
The theme park operator is rolling out an eight-minute horror short called “Come Out and Play,” designed to double as a trailer for its annual Halloween attractions. The short film, heavy on the creepy vibes and unnerving sound design, introduces a sinister figure known as Smiley, whose menacing grin becomes a calling card of terror.
Made with longtime creative partner TMA, “Come Out and Play” is a follow-up to the company’s “Tick.Tick.Tick.” long-form spot for Halloween last year, which leaned on a malevolent clown to lure fans to the parks.
Unlike traditional ads, the new film plays more like a standalone horror project, leaning into arthouse stylings with slow-burn suspense. It’s intended to give viewers an immersive taste of the dread that awaits in the haunted mazes and scare zones that Six Flags builds into its parks each October. In other words, it’s branded entertainment meant to unsettle you long before you’ve even bought a ticket.
“Halloween is a huge cultural moment that just keeps growing,” said Christian Dieckmann, chief commercial officer at Six Flags. “For us, the time was right to raise the stakes—bigger, better and scarier.”
“Halloween has become a cultural playground for so many brands, but Six Flags has been there for ages, helping visitors create lasting memories that they come back for, again and again. They want more. So for ‘Come Out And Play,’ we went for more,” he said.
The Halloween takeover at Six Flags goes far beyond decor. After dark, many parks morph into sprawling scaregrounds where monsters roam, rides operate in pitch black and elaborate haunted houses challenge visitors to keep their nerve. While the main attractions are tailored for teens and adults, the whole environment transforms into a seasonal spectacle, complete with themed snacks and shows.
“Come Out and Play” plays on YouTube and Six Flags’ social channels. Teasers leading up to launch seeded the creep factor early, giving audiences a taste of Smiley before he arrived in full force.
