Acceptable in the 80s: The Creative Allure of Looking Back

Nostalgia is a feeling that transports you back through time, remembering sitting cross-legged in front of the television, neck sore from pointing upwards at a pixelated screen - or even that one outfit you really wish you could burn from your memory. 

It’s a feeling that can make us feel old. It’s a feeling that can make us feel young again too. Either way: it makes us feel something.   

Advertising loves nostalgia that matches up with popular culture and entertainment. Take Coca-Cola's recent collaboration with Warner Brothers to celebrate the return of Tim Burton’s famed Beetlejuice with a limited edition Fanta Zero range that promises to ‘Haunt your tastebuds’.

Meanwhile in the States, Levi has kickstarted the first chapter in a new campaign with singer Beyoncé flaunting a pair of classic 501 Levi jeans around a launderette before adding them to a washing machine. The ad “reimagines” the brand’s classic 1985 ‘Launderette’ ad, but unlike the classic the 2024 version features a track from Beyonce’s latest album named Levis Jeans. 

Particularly well-executed moments of nostalgia are often examples of brands evolving already existing ideas that have a track record for success, according to Ella Britton, strategy director at Total Media and Behave. 

“The recent Levis ad with Beyoncé is pretty much the exact same format as the Laundromat 1985 ad,” she begins. “I thought that was done really well and it felt really authentic. It showed off the brand really well. It’s almost like ‘nostalgia plus’ - kind of leaning on visuals and taglines brands have had in the past, but slightly moving them forwards; you can tell its very distinctively that brand."

There’s a romance to nostalgia, according to Orlando Wood, chief innovation officer at System1. However, it’s a feeling that leaves you yearning for something - not just someone. 

“Advertising that looks back at the past connects with audiences because it finds the new in the familiar, rather like a trip to a foreign country," Wood says. "Indeed, nostalgia is much like homesickness; it is a yearning, but a yearning for a time rather than a place. And much like homesickness, nostalgia is a deeply romantic idea.”

Despite its benefits for audiences and brands alike, Britton explains how there is plenty of room for danger if nostalgia isn’t used effectively. 

“Where I think it doesn’t work is when it’s just laziness. That’s either doing nothing and relying on the fact that your brand is big, or not doing anything with it…I think some brands are in danger of almost using nostalgia by doing nothing.” 

Dr Thomas Robinson, senior lecturer in Marketing at the City of London’s Bayes Business School, also emphasises the danger of nostalgia - particularly the problems with looking back: “There’s very little predictability in the world, and one of the things that comes from that is a glorification of the past. You can call it a ‘sanitisation of the past’ where all the bad things used to be -  like people dying of measles and wars. That is sanitised."

“The horror of all things lies in comparison,” he continues. “I’m not always convinced that nostalgia has benefit. It’s a bit like eating junk food: in the moment it feels good to eat fries but half an hour later you’re sliding off the sofa thinking ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ While it can be good and it can provide continuity, the negative side of that is it can actually prevent us from seeing the good things in the present and it creates a cynicism about the future.” 

The prevalence of nostalgia

The nostalgic trend is everywhere; John Lewis taking a glimpse throughout time for the return of ‘Never Unknowingly Undersold’; Müller Corner and VCCP bringing back retro flavours in a PJ & Duncan inspired ‘Let’s Get Read to Crumble’; even Virgin Media accompanying a Walrus in a speedboat with Billy Ocean’s 1980s hit ‘Suddenly’. 

Another effective example from this year is McDonald’s celebration of their 50th anniversary. Its 1980s-inspired campaign took audiences back in time and reminded them of  classic birthday trips to the fast food chain for a Happy Meal, accompanied with nostalgic birthday invitations.

With long-time creative agency Leo Burnett, the ad enforced the power to make people remember and feel something based off their own experiences. 

Talking to Creative Salon, the creatives of this nostalgic-based campaign recognised the iconic nature of the brand - and that it was something they wanted to bring out for audiences. Alice Pearce, senior creative at Leo Burnett explains how McDonald’s rich history was important to tap into. “The brief was to pay homage to the iconic McDonald’s party invites of years gone by and create an instant nostalgia hit for anyone who sees them,” she said. 

Andrew Long and James Millers, ECDs at Leo Burnett UK didn’t shy away from their excitement with this campaign. “It’s a true privilege to help McDonald’s celebrate it’s first 50 years in the UK,” they said in a press release. “And to do it in the most joyful way possible - by inviting the nation to enjoy the incomparable feeling that only McDonald’s gives you.”

So why is nostalgia everywhere? Is it because advertising knows what its audience wants? Is it because advertising doesn’t want to let old habits die hard? 

More aptly, is it a shortcut to consumer engagement? 

“Yes 100 per cent,” Britton agrees without hesitation. “Because if you’ve seen something before and it’s familiar to you then the mental availability is higher. It doesn’t take as long to process that.

“With that shortcut you’re missing out on other emotions like surprise. If you get surprised by something there’s that initial, ‘oh!’, and your brain starts to process that information: ‘What does that mean?’, ‘I don’t get it’, ‘oh i’ve got it now’. That’s what I mean by it can feel a bit lazy because the shortcut is there versus relying on something else like surprising the consumer which takes so much more mental processing.”

This doesn’t mean using nostalgia is an awful thing for brands to be doing. It can be powerful when used in meaningful ways. Robinson believes that context and understanding of a particular piece of nostalgia can help brands moving forwards. 

“I think one of the things brands have to understand is that we don’t necessarily solve our problems by just giving people more nostalgia,” he explains. “Sometimes change is hard, and firms and companies have social responsibilities. They sometimes have to face up to the issues that we’re facing as a world and not just try to create pockets of utopia from the past that we can live in.”

Data platform GlobalAds released data on Oreo’s advertising strategy, commending its use of nostalgia at its forefront, through recent collaborations with Pac-Man and Star Wars that “transport viewers back to fond memories while associating them with the comfort of snacking on a familiar product”.

Similarly, data from marketing agency System1 found that nostalgia can perform well with modern nostalgic ads from Amazon, Asda and Cadbury’s all ranking as “exceptional” for both long- and short-term impacts. 

If it can perform well, why stop using it? 

The answer is creativity. It’s at the forefront of everything in the advertisement industry - and is something nostalgia’s razor edge can threaten. 

“I read a report that essentially said everything is so boring right now and there’s no innovation, creativity or bravery in advertising anymore because we’re in an echo chamber and everyone can just pull you down,” Britton explains. “I think brands are just scared and say ‘right, let’s just look back and see what we did before that went down well’. 

“Nostalgia is safe. It’s comforting, it’s familiar. With Levis, it had the Laundrette and audiences loved it. Now they’ll love it even more if they put Beyonce on it. I think that it’s been used as a crutch, and it can be quite lazy, and it can block new idea because people think it’s safer than doing something a bit wild that might go down horribly.”

Robinson agrees, seeing nostalgia as a safety net for some. 

“I don’t think nostalgia is necessarily a blockage to creativity. What I can say though is that it can for individual creativity, social creativity be an impediment. One of the cool things about nostalgia is that it’s brilliant for creating and enhancing community, of belonging, so people are floating around like dandelion spores.” 

So while there is clear value for marketers to embrace the past, such a strategy is only a stopgap developed around what once was new. Creativity needs some form of innovation and any brand's progress and long-term health must be built around looking forward to engaging new customers in a relevant way.