Psychology
Nostalgia
Warm memories of the past make us feel safe and connected, and that feeling rubs off on whatever brings the memories back.
All ads
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2022Never Done Evolving feat. Serena
Revives Serena at 17, from her first Grand Slam win, two days after she announced her retirement, letting fans relive her career just as they were saying goodbye.
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2020Groundhog Day
Brings back the clock-radio song, Ned Ryerson and the Woodstock streets of the 1993 film, and the warmth people feel for Groundhog Day carried over to the truck.
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2013Reunion
Grounds the story in memories of kite-flying in Lahore and sweets pinched from a family shop, warm childhood scenes that search brings back to life.
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2013Sound of Honda / Ayrton Senna 1989
Replays Ayrton Senna's 1989 Suzuka lap as moving sound and light along the circuit, bringing a legend's record back like a ghost for those who remember it.
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2013Magic of Flying (#lookup)
A child standing up to point at a passing plane recalls the thrill people felt at aircraft when they were young, and that old wonder attaches to British Airways.
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2012Project Re: Brief — 'Hilltop' Re-imagined for Coca-Cola
Brings back the classic 1971 'Hilltop' with its original art director, so fond memories of that song carry over to a humble banner ad.
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2011Cómicos
Reunites much-loved double acts and ends with Gila's famous 'Is that the enemy?' telephone routine, bringing back years of laughter Spaniards already shared.
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2010The Wilderness Downtown
Returns viewers to their childhood street and ends with a note to their younger self, stirring tender memories that cling to the browser that delivered them.
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2010Operation Christmas
Lights Christmas trees in the jungle when fighters feel most emotionally raw, stirring memories of Christmas at home and giving weight to the call to come home.
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2009Roller Babies
Sets the babies' old-school roller tricks to a remix of 'Rapper's Delight', bringing back the fun of an earlier era for the grown-ups watching.
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1987O Primeiro Sutiã (My First Bra)
Signs off with 'you never forget your first', calling up each woman's own memory of that rite of passage and tying its warmth to Valisère.
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1984Prouder, Stronger, Better ("Morning in America")
Bathes commuters, weddings and flag-raisings in golden light under Hal Riney's warm voice, so voters felt the comfort of a cherished America returning.
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1973The Bike Ride ("Boy on the Bike")
A baker's boy freewheeling down a cobbled hill to brass-band Dvořák conjures a warm, half-remembered past, and the bread inherits the promise that it is as good as it's always been.
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1939Keep Calm and Carry On
Surfaced in 2000 as a folded wartime poster in a box of books from an auction, and its quiet 1939 resolve let buyers feel close to a steadier Britain of the past.
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1936The Wienermobile
Brought back for its 50th birthday after years off the road, it drew crowds and letters from people who clearly wanted back a sight they remembered fondly.
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Santa Claus (Haddon Sundblom's Coca-Cola Santas)Coca-Cola1931
Santa Claus (Haddon Sundblom's Coca-Cola Santas)
Ties the drink to a rosy, grandfatherly Santa painted from a beloved Christmas poem, calling up the comfort of childhood Christmases every December.
Nostalgia: where it comes from
Studies by Tim Wildschut, Constantine Sedikides and their colleagues found that nostalgia lifts people's mood, raises their self-regard and makes them feel more connected to others (Wildschut and colleagues, 2006).
In ads it shows up as old songs, past decades, childhood memories, revived characters and anything that brings back how things used to be.