2023 Five Nights of Fun

Five Nights of Fun is an online and in-person event lasting from October 9th - October 13th, 2023, alongside Chuck E.'s Big Night of Fun being held on October 27th.https://www.chuckecheese.com/five-nights-of-fun/ For users who download the Chuck E. Cheese Rewards App for IOS and Android mobile devices, they would be able to enter in daily deals, alongside the possibility of winning a free party.⁽⁰⁾

Event Details

Five Days of Deals

For members that signed up for the Chuck E. Cheese Rewards App, they would receive deals for five days to be used in stores, being from October 9, - October 13th, 2023. It is currently unknown what each deal is.⁽⁰⁾

1. October 9 - allows customers to double their e-tickets up to 500 at the prize counter.
2. October 10 - Get 1000 E-Tickets with a minimum $10 purchase.
3. October 11 - 1 Hour of unlimited arcade access for $17.99
4. October 12 - Get 1000 E-Tickets with a minimum $10 purchase.
5. October 13 - Get 500 E-Tickets for wearing a Halloween costume to a location.

Chuck E.'s Big Night of Fun

All members signed up for the Chuck E. Cheese Rewards App during the Five Days of Deals will be entered in a sweepstakes for Chuck E.'s Big Night of Fun. This would be a single party at an unspecified, participating location given to a single winner. The drawing would happen on October 16th, and the party must be held on October 27th.⁽¹⁾ The party, officially called in the sweepstake terms 'Chuck E. Cheese's Big Night of Halloween Fun', would be held for up to 10 children under the age of 10 from 8pm-12am on October 27th, 2023. This party would include 2 medium 1-topping pizzas, up to 10 kids cups with unlimited refills during the party, unlimited arcade access during the party, up to 10 Small Dippin' Dot cups, and up to 10 Cotton Candies. The total party cost is listed to average $993.06.

History

The event was created to line up with the release month of the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, set for October 27th- with Chuck E.'s Big Night of Fun scheduled for the exact release date. The company officially acknowledges this intended lineup:

'...our brand is naturally being woven into discussions to the nature of the subject material. Five Nights at Freddy's Movie If they are going to mention us, let's give them something to talk about more than what they've been saying' -Employee Newsletter

This newsletter also acknowledges the event is not in collaboration with Scott Cawthon or Universal Pictures with the movie, and encourages employees to clarify to customers this distinction, while also directing to never directly saying anything about the FNaF brand.

Controversy

Within the same day of the event's initial discovery on October 5th, the FNoF newsletter would leak to large sections of the Five Nights of Freddy's social media sphere, and the events intentions on indirectly using the movie's popularity. This would spark massive discussion of the brand's dubious use of this promotion, alongside resparking talks about the company's handling of animatronics in the CEC 2.0 Remodel Program .⁽²⁾⁽³⁾ Later that exact same day, the company's first official announcement of FNoF would be made on their Instagram account, being of a recreation of the Five Nights at Freddy's movie poster with CEC branded characters.⁽⁴⁾ This would bring the controversy to its height⁽⁵⁾, being the first direct allusion to the horror franchise since 2018's Halloween at the Pizza Time Theatre animation, which came off as insincere due to the deep connections between the two brands and culture surrounding them.⁽⁶⁾⁽⁷⁾ After the news would blow up on social media, people would begin to notice that mentioning Five Nights at Freddy's in any capacity to CEC socials would get them blocked, sparking further controversy. CEC had already been doing this for years, but was not noticed by the general public until this event.⁽⁸⁾ Then CEO David McKillips would write to Popverse on October 10th:

Chuck E. Cheese inspiring parodies -- and even full length feature films – means we are still a mainstay in the cultural zeitgeist. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and we wanted in on the fun this Halloween during our annual Boo-Tacular event. But of course, as with everything Chuck E. Cheese, we kept it PG and fun for the whole family. Our focus is everyday fun – this just happens to be Five Nights in a row! And the original purple guy, Mr. Munch is super excited!” -David McKlillips⁽⁹⁾

No comment would be made by Scott Cawthon, Universal Pictures, or any other subsidiary holding the FNaF license.

Dave & Busters

On October 16th, 2023, competitor Dave & Busters would announce a similar event directly tied to the Five Nights at Freddy's Movie IP, called FIVE WEEKS. FIVE DEALS. GET READY. This event would last from October 16th to November 19th, having the same format of exclusive deals each week, but also including collectible Five Nights at Freddy's trading cards featuring each character available each week.⁽¹⁰⁾ It is unknown if this tie-in was done last-minute to out-compete the Five Nights of Fun event, due to its nature of low maintenance and setup, or if this deal was struck in advance before FNoF was ever announced.

2024

On June 9th, 2024, Mark Kupferman would make note on CEC's mindset during the event. CEC actively tries to avoid the FNaF brand due to its content being too scary for CEC's very young audience. While both brands are targeted at young kids, CEC's brand leans between 3-8, while FNaF can trend towards preteens and older. CEC would use FNoF to 'make the most of a difficult situation', with the FNaF movie bringing CEC into conversations 'whether we liked it or not'- when surrounding the brand and inside its locations.⁽¹¹⁾