NOSTALGIA ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE—PART THREE
Nostalgia sells. It is only natural. Part of the very core of being human is memory and our ability to recall special times from our past. In Robert Trussell’s analysis of nostalgia and entertainment, he observes the marketing power of nostalgia in spite of the often major differences in the product from one generation to another (“Awash in Nostalgia” The Kansas City Star . November 15, 2015, pp. 1D, 12D):
“ In the ‘50s, movies about ancient Rome were like visits to a theme park with the added benefit of spiritual uplift. In the 21st century they invite you into a secular carnival of sadism. Both ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Rome,’ though, recalled the heyday of widescreen epics decades earlier and invited a built-in audience of people old enough to remember those spectacles. ” (p. 12D)
Therefore, nostalgia becomes the wise marketer’s tool that is already activated in every consumer. Not every product or service of course will lend itself to the nostalgic context. Nevertheless, I think that nostalgia’s power only stands to grow as time rolls forward. And when it comes to entertainment, that is a given, because entertainment is always about someone’s story.
