WEBVTT - Will Halloween Be Cancelled for Coronavirus?

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, August seven. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is Reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>As a result of the pandemic, Halloween could be canceled

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<v Speaker 1>or at least look very different than in the past.

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<v Speaker 1>Many major theme parks have already canceled their Halloween events

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<v Speaker 1>and now big questions remain about trick or treating and

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<v Speaker 1>also how it could impact the costume and candy industries.

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<v Speaker 1>Hugo Martin, business writer at The l A Times, joins

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<v Speaker 1>us for how Halloween could be very different this year.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining us, Hugo, Yeah, thanks for every Halloween

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<v Speaker 1>is one of my favorite holidays. I get together with

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<v Speaker 1>my wife, we get together with friends. We love to

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<v Speaker 1>go to all these theme parks that have their events,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, in California. Here in Los Angeles area, we

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<v Speaker 1>obviously have the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, Not

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<v Speaker 1>Scary Farm at Nots, and the Queen Mary has their

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<v Speaker 1>Dark Harbor event. You know. I love those that kind

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<v Speaker 1>of kicks off the Halloween season and then throughout I

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<v Speaker 1>love it costumes, trick or tree in the whole nine.

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<v Speaker 1>But with the pandemic, the way it is. Everything has

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<v Speaker 1>been kind of thrown for a loop. A lot of

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<v Speaker 1>these theme parks have already canceled their Halloween events, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's just more questions after that. What's going to happen

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<v Speaker 1>to the retailers like Spirit, the costume shops that really

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<v Speaker 1>rely on this season to keep them afloat. Everything's been

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<v Speaker 1>thrown into question now, so he go. You wrote a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit about how this could impact the holiday there.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell us about it. You were mentioning all these Halloween

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<v Speaker 1>festivities that theme parks have, and in the past they've

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<v Speaker 1>been just going bigger and bigger every year. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>they were breaking records. You would be waiting in line

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<v Speaker 1>for hours in some cases to get in these mazes

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<v Speaker 1>and to get in the rides, and the stores that

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<v Speaker 1>sell the costumes. Spirit and Party City used to go

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<v Speaker 1>back there to get costumes around the Halloween time and

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<v Speaker 1>it just be while the wall with people and costumes

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<v Speaker 1>all over the floor. So it's been a huge boost

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<v Speaker 1>to the economy every year. And this year, all the

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<v Speaker 1>major theme parks here in southern California have canceled their

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<v Speaker 1>Halloween festivities, and some of the stores and the candy

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<v Speaker 1>makers are saying you know, we just don't know what

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<v Speaker 1>it's going to look like this year because of the pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's unclear if people are going to be

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<v Speaker 1>even trick or treating this year. I mean, it's definitely sad,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's understandable at least with these theme park festivities.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, in these dark, cramped mazes. A lot of

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<v Speaker 1>them are outdoors, but sometimes they're indoors. Their smoke machines,

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<v Speaker 1>people breathing on you, screaming. These are all the things

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<v Speaker 1>that we shouldn't be doing in close quarters with each other,

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<v Speaker 1>So it makes sense. You did have a section in

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<v Speaker 1>your article where you talked about Halloween spending. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of money attached to this. Run through some of

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<v Speaker 1>those numbers. Last year, based on a survey by the

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<v Speaker 1>National Retail Federation, they estimated that Americans would spend eight

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<v Speaker 1>point eight billion dollars just on Halloween, and that was

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<v Speaker 1>one of the third I think it was the third

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<v Speaker 1>highest in the fifteen years that they've been doing the survey.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of that money spent on costumes and then a

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<v Speaker 1>big chunk also on candy and decorations. So it's a

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<v Speaker 1>huge holiday. It's second only do Christmas when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to spending in the US. So it's big, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>been getting bigger and bigger every year. You say it's

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<v Speaker 1>second only to Christmas. There was also a note in

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<v Speaker 1>the article some people might not have a problem with that.

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<v Speaker 1>I know a lot of people do. Though, is that

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<v Speaker 1>kind of slow creep of Christmas into Thanksgiving and beyond

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<v Speaker 1>and before that. They're saying that if Halloween is a bust,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of retailers might launch Christmas promotions early to

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<v Speaker 1>try to offset that, to try to compensate. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>we're just kind of laughing about these things. But that's

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<v Speaker 1>another thing that Christmas might come even earlier because Halloween

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<v Speaker 1>could be a bust. Yeah, I mean we all go

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<v Speaker 1>to the stores and we see the like Halloween stuff

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<v Speaker 1>where the Thanksgiving stuff. We go, wait a minute, that's

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<v Speaker 1>still like a month away or two months away. And now,

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<v Speaker 1>as you say, if Halloween is a bust, we're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>see Christmas decorations and Christmas wrapping and all that stuff

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<v Speaker 1>even earlier because the stores are going to try to

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<v Speaker 1>make up for that loss. Back to candy for a moment,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, Candy sales obviously going on throughout the year,

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<v Speaker 1>and they have other holidays associated with candy, but this

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<v Speaker 1>is a big one for them. You spoke to someone

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<v Speaker 1>at Hershey Company, what is their sense of this whole thing.

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<v Speaker 1>They're still hoping that it will be a pretty good year.

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<v Speaker 1>They're hoping that people will buy candy just for themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>even if there's no trick or treating. It's unclear what's

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<v Speaker 1>can happen with trick or treating. I did call the

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<v Speaker 1>l A County Public Health Department and I said, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>what do you think. Are you guys gonna have any

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<v Speaker 1>suggestions on whether people should trick or treat? And they said,

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<v Speaker 1>for now, they're waiting to do that, but they said

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<v Speaker 1>be prepared to offer alternative ways to celebrate that minimize

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<v Speaker 1>contact with non household members, which you know, my reading

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<v Speaker 1>is they may not be too cool on walking door

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<v Speaker 1>to door and knocking on people's doors around the neighborhood.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, that's gonna be interesting if public health officials

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<v Speaker 1>say trick or treating is not a safe thing to do.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's another interesting one. You'll probably see a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of candy bowls just there, you know, kind of help

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<v Speaker 1>yourself canny balls. But even in that sense. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>the studies that they've done, the virus can live on

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<v Speaker 1>surfaces and things for some time. It's not as much

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<v Speaker 1>of a worry as being in a room with people

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<v Speaker 1>breathing on you. But even still there's going to be

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<v Speaker 1>a concern there. So it's just gonna be a tough situation.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, we'll wait for that guidance, but already

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<v Speaker 1>it seems like it might not be so well. The

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<v Speaker 1>last question I had for you, Hugo, you spoke to

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<v Speaker 1>a few people that love Hall the Ween obviously, and

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<v Speaker 1>they're kind of just saying, it's not gonna be the same.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm probably just gonna stay home this year. Like you said,

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<v Speaker 1>you'd like to go to the Universal Studios and not

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<v Speaker 1>very farm and I do too, And so I talked

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<v Speaker 1>to some folks who do that on a regular basis,

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<v Speaker 1>and they said they're just gonna maybe stay home and

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<v Speaker 1>watch scary movies all day. They're not gonna, basically, in

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<v Speaker 1>their mind, cancel Halloween. They'll try to do it in

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<v Speaker 1>some way that's safe and without going out. Probably no

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<v Speaker 1>costume parties this year, but you can always stay at

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<v Speaker 1>home and watch horror movies and uh, celebrate that way.

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<v Speaker 1>Hugo Martin, business writer at the l A Times, thank

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<v Speaker 1>you very much for joining us. I appreciate thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>having me. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this has been reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't forget the effort today's big news stories. You can

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