It’s funny to think that in the 80s Back to the Future predicted flying cars and Blade Runner portrayed robots as main characters. Yet in 2026, media is conforming to the trend of “going analogue” and audiences are longing for old-school sentimental mediums and stepping away from technology.
The most creative marketing campaigns at the time were influenced and inspired by the tech-mania cultural fantasy of the movies, heavily relying on computers, space-age design and futuristic gadgets. A standout example: Coca Cola’s 1985 ad featuring computer-generated AI TV host character, Max Headroom. The character was actually played by actor Matt Frewer, but many believed it to be AI for years.
Fast forward to today, marketing strategies are doing the very opposite, projecting their campaigns to the past, adapting to the analogue desires of the modern generation and producing concepts that tie into this nostalgia boom.
The rising analogue culture is not only based on retro “vibes” but replacing modern appliances with tangible, non-digital technologies – Polaroid and film cameras, vinyl players and CDs or, more simply, a diary instead of Google Calendar.
The campaign that piqued our interests and inspired this reflection featured a nostalgic analogue form of animation that we all loved when we were young: a flip book.
Californian clothing brand Madhappy teamed up with the Powerpuff Girls (already a 90s staple) to create a fun ad featuring an old-school flip book animation of the cartoon.
A perfect example of how marketing can use nostalgia to appeal to customers.
Additionally, understanding current trends and schools of thought of your target audience can make you stand out in the saturated market. Who would have thought that in the age of AI, it is a simple flip book that makes you want to know more!
At Marketing Network Group, we are not immune to this sentimental nostalgia.
In the last year we have embraced the trend and created content featuring old-school technologies such as an Instagram Post with film camera pictures from the agency’s photoshoot and an animated Christmas Card – what is more sentimental than that!
This month marketing insight: Tangible, sentimental touches can spark genuine engagement, even in the age of AI.
