PUMPKIN TO TALK ABOUT

Spirit Halloween Is Not Amused by Your Fake Costume Memes

The spooky seasonal retailer is assuring customers that they have never sold a 'Gay Guy' outfit

By

Tim Chan, Miles Klee

October 26, 2022

Add us as a Google Preferred Source

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 26: People wait in line outside a Spirit Halloween store in Chelsea on October 26, 2021 in New York City. Spirit Halloween is limiting the number of customers in an effort to enforce safety and comfort. Many Halloween events and large-scale decorations are back this year after many events were cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Spirit Halloween has made some questionable costumes in the past — but they're avid that those circulating as memes aren't ones they actually manufacture. Getty Images

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

Spirit Halloween is saying witch, please to all the Photoshopped memes of their costumes.

The seasonal store is always a favorite subject for social media, whether it’s jokes about how quickly they take over empty storefronts or the anticipation of shopping for spooky accessories at the very last minute. This October, the trend has been fake Halloween costumes branded with the Spirit Halloween logo. Even celebrities got in on the act, with stars like Diplo and Kim Petras posting versions of themselves as Halloween characters (Diplo’s “DJ Dip” costume comes with sunglasses and Crocs, while Petras’ “Slut” look references her last album Slut Pop). And Lil Nas X had a hilarious reply to being turned into the model for the “gay person in terrible outfit” costume.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by diplo (@diplo)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkF3PUyjNVJ/?hl=en

it’s funny until u realize both of my dead grandmothers stitched this outfit together by hand right before passing and i wore it to go and donate to a childrens hospital after volunteering at a soup kitchen for the homeless. not so@funny now is it? https://t.co/TPUsadrak0

— ☆ ‧‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥˟͙冬˟͙‧̩̥l (@LilNasX) October 24, 2022

The meme took off as others riffed on the generic-yet-oddly-specific formula for prepackaged Halloween costumes (remember the version of Beetlejuice who was rebranded “Juice Demon“?), and we saw everyone from “Cunty Corporate Criminal” (Gerri in Succession) to “Polyamorous Mixologist.”

But the popularity of fake getups that included “Gay,” “Lesbian” and “Bisexual” in the description led to some confusion — and headaches for Spirit Halloween itself. One Twitter user, apparently believing a phony “Gay Guy” costume they’d seen online was real, demanded an explanation from the corporate account. “Seriously, Spirit Halloween?” The meme shows a smiling man with a rainbow pride flag draped over his shoulders.

This is not an officially licensed costume from our company. Photoshopping our packages seems to be trending at the moment.

We will be passing this to our review team. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. 🎃

— Spirit Halloween (@SpiritHalloween) October 23, 2022

The product is not an actual costume sold on the Spirit Halloween website (though there are still plenty of real ones available). The company quickly responded on Twitter, writing, “This is not an officially licensed costume from our company. Photoshopping our packages seems to be trending at the moment.”

Editor’s picks



The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far



The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time



The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time



100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

Spirit Halloween added that they “will be passing this to our review team,” though it’s unclear what action, if any, has been taken. Rolling Stone has reached out to the company through Twitter and a media contact to ask if they are considering cease-and-desist notices for meme-makers, or filing copyright claims in order to have the posts taken down. They have yet to reply.

It’s not the first time Spirit Halloween had to disavow the “Gay Guy” costume, either. Two days earlier, they replied to a Twitter user asking “wtf is this?” of the doctored image, assuring them that it is “not something we carry or have carried before.”

Hey! This is not something we carry or have carried before.

— Spirit Halloween (@SpiritHalloween) October 21, 2022

Another meme that depicted actor Rhys Darby’s character in the HBO series Our Flag Means Death as a “Gay Loser” costume irritated his wife, Rosie Carnahan-Darby, who called it “rude” and said they would have to invoice Spirit Halloween for the use of his image. After she expressed hope that “it is someone’s shit attempt at humour and it is photoshopped,” another user confirmed that it was.

Trending Stories

Stevie Wonder Files Lawsuit to Evict Woman Living on His Property Rent-Free for 38 Years

My Chemical Romance Face Legal Action From Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Over Stage Costumes

Ethan Klein Confirms He'll ‘Remove Ownership’ From ‘H3 Podcast’ After Wife Accuses Him of Cheating

Todd Snider Died While Working on an Ambitious New Album. His Friends Finished It

Carnahan-Darby replied that she had “already alerted” her husband’s team, “so the Halloween spirit people might get a call.”

spirit halloween is really running out of costume ideas… pic.twitter.com/2cYRWW3vcr

— 🍓 (@queercrowley) October 21, 2022

I am hoping it is someone's shit attempt at humour and it is photoshopped.

— Rosie Carnahan-Darby (@rosiecd) October 23, 2022

Thanks' I had unfortunately already alerted Rhys' team so the Halloween spirit people might get a call. Let's hope he doesn't see it, it is mean spirited. (pun intended)

— Rosie Carnahan-Darby (@rosiecd) October 23, 2022

Spirit Halloween has inspired no shortage of baseless internet rumors this month: just last week, fans had Meghan Trainor trending as they theorized that she was the model in a nun costume on their website. But for the retailer, there’s no reason to be scared of all this brand engagement — it can only help boost profits before they ghost us in November.

In this article:

More News

Read more

Top stories newsletter

A Cultural Force That Transcends Generations

Enter your Email

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.