If you're striking with SAG-AFTRA, make sure your Halloween character costume isn’t out of character. The actors union warned its thousands of members not to dress up as characters of struck content this trick-or-treat season.
On Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA issued new guidance for "strike-friendly" Halloween costumes, advising its members to dress up as generalized characters — such as zombies and spiders — over specific characters featured in content from companies the union is striking against.
"Let's use our collective power to send a loud and clear message to our struck employers that we will not promote their content without a fair contract," the release said.
The union's guidance also asks members to refrain from posting photos of costumes inspired by struck content on social media platforms. However, characters from non-struck content — such as animated TV shows — are okay to go, per the release.
This means costume ideas from major box office hits from this year, like "Barbie" or "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," could cross the picket line.
In a statement, a spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA noted the guidance was in response to questions from members on how to support the ongoing strike through Halloween festivities.
“This was meant to help them avoid promoting struck work, and it is the latest in a series of guidelines we have issued,” a spokesperson for the actors union said in a statement. “It does not apply to anyone’s kids. ... Our number one priority remains getting the studios back to the negotiating table so we can get a fair deal for our members, and finally put our industry back to work.”
Despite the SAG-AFTRA advice, dressing up as iconic film and TV characters will stay popular this year.
Among the top searches for costumes this past week are "Daredevil," "Princess Diaries" and "Monster High," according to Google Trends. Popular partner costumes include a number of fan favorites, too: "Ross and Rachel" and "Burt Macklin and Janet Snakehole" are among the contenders, according to the search engine.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Hollywood studios and SAG-AFTRA were suspended last week. The union has been on strike since July 14.
Representatives for the AMPTP, the motion pictures trade association, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The AMPTP represents NBCUniversal, which is the parent company of NBC News.