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Have you seen this picture before?:
It is not hard to find if you search up "Y2K ads" on Pinterest. It is a Y2K Panasonic Ad that was originally posted on Instargram. The Pinterest post describes it as a "Vintage Japanese advertisment promoting Panasonic HS 102 Headphones".
How come so many people grew fond of this picture?
It's simple, yet has a kind of aesthetic to it, a nostalgia, that makes it look so good. A cool looking character wearing headphones that look interesting, barley in frame yet it's the first thing you notice. In the middle, the headphones advertised, simple yet bold text stating the model and that it's 'new'. On the bottom left japanese text.
As I have noticed most "cool" looking ads from Y2K or even older are indeed from japan. E.g:
As you may or may not have noticed all of these examples are for either games, gaming consoles, or any tech product. I am guessing since bak then everything new was revolutionary. It is hard to explain why these posters tingle something in our brain. Even generations born during that time seem to have grown fond of retro or this futuristic style mixed with old tech.
I would like for you to compare these two ads and question yourself what you'd rather buy.
Same company, same product line, two decades apaprt. Both are simple, both have one product in the picture, yet somehow the left one looks more appealing to the eye. Is it the model? Is it the gradiant on the PS text?
It's not like the PS5 has only bland marketing.
This is the official Playstation Magazine's 180 page special. It looks bold, the text, the colors contrasting, Everything comes togheter. And even though made in 2021 it looks like it came straight from Y2K.
I don't understand why minimalism is right now the Trend, but people crave bold text, a bunch of it, 3D or 2D characters in a real life enviroment, a kind of lighting, a specific color palate with a range of shades. Something to make you stop and look at it for a while.
Ads like these are creative, not hyper-targeted, it's more like a unique blend of Y2K and this gritty look.
It could also be that now, coprates are more focused on getting you to consume. And there is no magazines anymore that have this distincitve style.
People don't want ads. Especially with AI nowadays. They want art.
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lumin0us
>And even though made in 2021 it looks like it came straight from Y2K.
it really doesn't ^^' its just busy and less minimalistic because it's a magazine cover and not an advertisement and magazine covers (yes, even nowadays) tend to be like that.
everything's become much more simple and streamlined now, and the ads have followed. companies are not bold with their inventions anymore, like mobile phones for example.
>people dont want ads, they want art
and companies want money. so they're following examples set by other successful leaders, which leads to a cycle of enshittification.
that being said, We Need To Bring Back PepsiMan
Pepsi Man is the goat
by Mr_Nobody; ; Report