Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Will Throwbacks Fumble or Score?

According to an article I found in USA Today, both Pepsi and Frito-Lay are going retro. This seems to be the new craze in advertising, heading back down memory lane and using designs that are nostalgic for older generations and something new for the upcoming ones. You won't just be seeing a change in the carbonated beverages' appearances though, you may actually be able to taste the difference since Pepsi is also changing the pop's formula. Instead of using the hotly debated high fructose corn syrup, they will be switching back to the use of real sugar. This is the new trend going around basically because we're placing importance on being simple and being genuine.
From USAToday.com
Pepsi is far from the first company to be issuing throwbacks and marketing their products with former designs and promotions. The candy industry has been doing this for years. Hershey's is a great example of the candy industry going retro. Other industries implementing this marketing plan are the snack industry, like Doritos bringing back their Taco flavor from the 1980s, and the sneaker industry and Nike bringing back the Air Jordan shoe.

The fashion industry is also especially effected by this trend and in many different aspects. Multiple college football teams have gone retro to honor their former teams and victories. In 2009 playing against Michigan, the Ohio State University donned uniforms based off of the 1954 OSU national championship team. Ohio State also commemorated the 25-year anniversary of the 1968 team by wearing throwbacks in 1993. Though these weren't permanent changes in the football teams apparel, changes seem to stick longer and more prominently in the fashion industry. Floral prints, long dresses, skinny jeans, leggings, and even the bell-bottomed flare jeans have made a considerable comeback.

I think with Pespi and Frito-Lay targeting their customers with these vintage ads from their yesteryear, they are going to be successful because of the nostalgic factor. Also, the fact that the design has been used before, but is still new to the younger generations in the sense that it's not like what they're used to seeing. Plus I think that seeing all the old ads and wrappers or cans that my parents and grandparents used to buy and see on a daily basis is really interesting.

No comments:

Post a Comment