By Andrew Millichamp
Don’t be surprised if you see U.S. President Barack Obama, Big Bird and Korean pop star Psy walking down the street this weekend or on Halloween night next Wednesday.
“All the things that are selling are television shows and things that are being brought out by the pop culture,” Jessica Matchett, an assistant manager of Spirit, a Halloween costume store in Mississauga, told Humber News on Thursday.
One popular costume choice this year is Big Bird, made famous by U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney when he vowed to cut funding to PBS in the first of three presidential debates this month, according to a USA Today article.
While a lot of costumes are inspired by American pop culture – including Big Bird this year – not everything is always available here in Canada.
“We have had a few people ask for Big Bird but we couldn’t get them in from the states,” Beverley Quinn, owner of Candy’s Costume Shop in North Toronto told Humber News.
“We have to look back in February, March, and decide what might be popular for Halloween,” said Quinn. “There’s always something that will surprise us.”
Surprises like Big Bird and Psy will be joined by Internet memes such an invisible Obama and U.S. Olympian McKayla Maroney, according to a Washington Post article.
Psy is a big seller owing to his global smash hit song Gangnam Style. The song and the dance that accompanies it, has become an Internet sensation.
Celebrities and well known figures caught doing Gangnam Style range from the cast of Dancing with the Stars, Canadian news anchor Peter Mansbridge, to United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon
Other big sellers are related to popular television shows and film franchises.
Matchett said a lot of her strong sellers are related to film, with big sales for Hobbits, Alice in Wonderland and superheroes from the Avengers.
Other pop culture icons like Charlie Sheen, the cast of the TV show Jersey Shore, and “everything from the 80s” are still collecting dust on her store shelves, Matchett said.
Still, other costumes are selling well.
“Jesus was a good seller this year,” said Matchett.