Spooky spooks: CIA offers disguise tips to kids preparing their Halloween costumes

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has offered some disguise pointers to children gearing up for Halloween – a public relations stunt that has elicited groans and taunts on social media.

On its ‘Spy Kids’ website, the CIA published a helpful guide for “staying covert this Halloween”. The agency recommends that any young person who wants to stay under the radar on October 31 should “try wearing a ball cap or hoodie” to hide their hair, or to pad their clothing with extra layers to “appear larger”.

According to the CIA, these small cosmetic changes will actually convince other people that you are the real James Bond – or something.

“Need some last-minute advice to make a costume so good, no one will recognize you?” the ‘company’ asked, in a tweet advertising its Halloween advice. A photograph of a dog “disguised” as a lion was included, just for good measure.

Twitter users responded to the corny PR stunt by wondering if the CIA – which regularly “lies, cheats and steals,” according to former director Mike Pompeo – should be teaching children anything, let alone have a “kids” page.

Others seemed amused by the CIA’s social media outreach, cracking jokes about the agency’s rather unsophisticated disguise methods.

Noting the investigation into intelligence officials who may have played a role in pushing the now-debunked Russiagate narrative, one netizen suggested that former CIA Director John Brennan could use the agency’s disguise hacks to escape the clutches of the Department of Justice.

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