Kristine
Using nostalgia to remind customers of the good ol’ days has become a major marketing trend over the past year. Brands that successfully incorporate nostalgic elements in their advertising campaigns can attract customers by bringing back fond memories of a simpler time, but not all companies have been able to strike the right tone.
To recognize what differentiates effective nostalgic advertisements from cringe-worthy campaigns that belong in the past for good, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some of the best and worst examples of nostalgia marketing in recent history. Reviewing these campaigns may even inspire new ideas for your own marketing strategy!
Nostalgia Marketing Pros
Nintendo
In 2016, video game developer Nintendo decided to use a bit of nostalgia to boost sales before the release of the new Nintendo Switch console. Digging into their past, the company created mini versions of their retro gaming systems from the ‘80s and ‘90s, including the classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Super NES. The marketing strategy was wildly successful, and Nintendo sold more than 10 million units to customers who had fond memories of playing video games for the first time when they were kids. Nintendo’s head of sales and marketing in the US, Doug Bowser, explained, “We want to replicate the nostalgic feelings of sitting down and playing the NES with your family for the first time.” By advertising to adults who had grown up with Nintendo and now had children of their own, this campaign inspired them to introduce their families to the video games they loved during their own childhood.
Heinz
Heinz was established in 1869, making it the oldest company mentioned here by far. Since the company has been operating for over 150 years, the brand has experimented with countless types of advertisements and unique packaging designs, all of which they proudly display on their website. Heinz regularly celebrates its variety of vintage packaging, bringing back fond memories that customers associate with the brand, such as the backyard cookouts and summer camping trips they enjoyed when they were younger.
Disney
When Disney first announced the release of their exclusive streaming platform, Disney Plus, the company took to Twitter to share the long list of movies and shows that would be available to subscribers. The company wrote hundreds of Tweets about the beloved movies that millions of people had enjoyed in their childhood, inspiring Twitter users to start sharing their own favorite Disney memories. The appeal of the familiar stories, beloved fairy tale characters, and happily-ever-afters made people more than happy to rewatch all their favorite movies on the new platform.
Adobe
When Adobe was preparing to release their new Adobe Photoshop Sketch software in 2016, their marketing team was inspired by none other than the beloved painting instructor, Bob Ross. Ross, who had passed away in 1995, had garnered a new wave of appreciation after Netflix added his show, The Joy of Painting, to the platform. Adobe decided to reach out to Bob Ross Inc. to discuss paying an homage to the talented artist in a campaign called “Joy of Sketching,” which imagines what it would have looked like if Ross had used an iPad to create art. “Bob’s wish was to inspire as many people as possible to be creative and to share it with others,” said Joan Kowalski, media director at Bob Ross Inc. “Adobe’s ‘Joy of Sketching’ series reminds us that a company as big as Adobe shares in that hope.”
Nostalgic Advertising Mishaps
Kraft Foods
Kraft macaroni and cheese is a type of comfort food that people instantly associate with childhood, which made this advertising mistake especially disconcerting to customers. In a cheeky commercial starring comedian Vanessa Bayer, Kraft launched its #SendNoods campaign, purposefully playing up the pun throughout the video. “In these strange times, people are in need of extra comfort. That’s why it’s always a nice gesture to send noods, so they know you’re thinking of them,” Bayer says in the video. “Noods, I mean. Not nudes.”
Suffice to say, the suggestive ads didn’t go over well at all. The brand has since erased all mentions of the #SendNoods campaign from its social media channels in an effort to stop the public backlash, particularly from shocked parents who didn’t want their kids to be exposed to the “wildly inappropriate” content.
Hacienda
In 2011, the Hacienda restaurant chain created billboards with references to the ‘70s, but it certainly didn’t bring back cheerful memories. The billboards included the statement, “We’re like a cult with better Kool-Aid,” along with a smaller tagline that read, “To die for!” This, of course, is a chilling reference to the 1978 Jonestown incident where hundreds of cult members committed mass suicide by drinking Flavor Aid mixed with cyanide.
One woman who first noticed the sign in Indiana was so shocked that she had to drive past the billboard twice to convince herself she hadn’t misread it. “It brought back quite a few horrible images and memories, and the very notion that a local restaurant would trivialize such a worldwide tragedy to simply increase their sales of cocktails is outrageous to me,” she told CBS News.
Folgers
In 2009, Folgers released a Christmas-themed commercial called “Coming Home,” a 45-second short story of a young woman excitedly welcoming her older brother home for the holidays. It was meant to be a sweet, heartwarming ad about a family reuniting over morning coffee, but many, many people failed to see anything wholesome about the somewhat flirtatious nature of the on-screen siblings. In the final 5 seconds of the video, the actress playfully stuck a bow to her brother’s shirt, smiling (…seductively?) as she said, “You’re my present this year.” Those last 5 seconds ended up sparking a whole whirlwind of content that Folgers absolutely did not intend to inspire.
In the years following the ad’s release, several jokes, articles, and even parody videos revealed that the majority of viewers thought that the commercial had come across as weirdly incestuous. AO3, a popular fanfiction site, has even dedicated an entire section solely to the supposed “relationship.” And it’s definitely not the kind of wholesome Christmas content people would want to read about.
