Imitation is flattery, is the saying. Play-it-safe marketers tend to copy whatever the novel trend is (I’ve been there and got the t-shirt, so not a criticism or judgement). Sometimes clients follow an agency’s recommendation based on the success (proven or mere fluff) another client has achieved. Over the past year or so, nostalgic references have slowly crept into more and more TV ads. Possibly on the basis that nostalgia plays favourably in comforting people, and influencing their decisions, most commented on in the sphere of ‘make America great again’ and Brexit voters.
The likes of MoneySupermarket with Heman and Skeletor dancing; GI Joe dancing; Natwest reintroducing Ghostbusters; McDonalds with the BigMac through the decades; GWR reintroducing the Famous Five and so on.
More recently the trend seems to have morphed into displaying the customer as a zombie-like imbecile.
It will be interesting to see which other brands start to follow this trend, and ultimately how consumers react in terms of purchasing behaviour.