By Rieva Lesonsky
America’s fascination with the supernatural runs in cycles. Depending on the year, either vampires, zombies, werewolves or witches are “hot.” According to the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (the summer movie double issue-the online link is not yet available), it’s now “the witching hour.”
The magazine cites the recent mega-successful movie from Disney, Oz the Great and Powerful, which earned over $200 million at the box office this spring. And Oz was just leading the way for several other films, including a summer remake of Sleeping Beauty starring Angelina Jolie as the evil witch Maleficent.
But wait, there’s more. The small screen will soon be bursting with at least three TV shows featuring witches, one of which is based on a popular series of bestselling books. And of course there are more books to come, not to mention the perpetual popularity of the Harry Potter series.
Of course, our love of witches is not new. Who doesn’t love Glinda (from the original Wizard of Oz), Samantha (from TV’s Bewitched) or Elphaba (the bad witch from Broadway’s Wicked)? Entertainment Weekly speculates this reincarnation of witch love has something to do “with a desire to highlight strong, active female characters.”
What does all this have to do with your small business? Depending on what you sell, you need to keep an eye on what trends will emerge from the various enchantresses. As an example of what could happen, Bella, the heroine of theTwilight book and movie saga, made plaid flannel shirts a fashion must-have for millions of tweens and teens for years.
The impact of witches could be contained to fashion or wander into other industries like beauty or home décor. What will be hot? It’s too soon to tell, but stay tuned.
