Recently, lots of products that stimulate old vibes are being launched. They are becoming popular and getting people’s attention. As technology advances over time and cutting-edge technology products are being created, why do we love old stuff from our past? Old stuff and this present moment — let’s find out what makes retro products attractive.

Retro, newtro, vintage? Before we start, let’s briefly check what these three words mean. These words seem to have close meanings, but they are actually different. First, retro is a short word for ‘retrospect’, which means ‘go back to the old days’, ‘miss the past’, and a move to revive it. Newtro is a combination of two words, ‘new’ and ‘retro’. The concept started with young Koreans rediscovering vintage styles. If retro is using past designs as they are, newtro is a recreation of retro designs in a modern way. Then, what’s vintage? Actually, vintage comes from a word referring to labels that used to be placed on high-quality wines made of good grapes. Recently, this word has come to mean ‘oldies but goodies’ and ‘classic, traditional, historical’.

Retro marketing reminds the older generations of the past. The main target is the generation who experienced life before the 2000s, and the purpose is to bring back memories. People tend to remember only good experiences. Even if they have had a very hard time, they try to remember bad memories beautifully. We call this Moodcela Syndrome. Retro marketing is a typical example of a marketing strategy using Moodcela Syndrome. This is because humans have an instinct to rely on past memories when their current condition is not good. Not only humans’ instinct, but also, we are living in a time where society is rapidly changing through political, economic, and social issues. These rapid changes create anxiety for humans, who tend to put safety first and go back to the past to take comfort. In other words, actions to calm human anxiety are the main reasons why retro marketing works. Also, retro products bring back memories to older generations, while they trigger curiosity in younger generations. In this way, retro products connect old and new generations.

Bluetooth keyboards

They look like typewriters, but they’re actually Bluetooth keyboards! You can connect your smartphones and mobile devices to use them.

Lamps

This lamp doesn’t work with fuels. Instead, it uses batteries to light it up.

Fans

They look very old, but they’re actually fans with wireless batteries.

MA-1 bomber jackets

This jacket is known as the ‘MA-1 bomber jacket’. It started with a pilot jacket that was developed in the 1940s. The name comes from the product model name of the military clothing manufacturer Alpha Industries, which has become a casual military fashion brand.

Inspired by Apple’s best sellers, the Macintosh and iPods. They charge your smart watch wirelessly.

Samsung Anycall SGH-T100 and SGH-E700

Samsung Galaxy Buds cases based on SGH-T100 and SGH-E700 designs

The classic design comes from Samsung Anycall mobile phones. Both the E700 and the T100 sold more than 10 million phones and made Samsung Electronics a global mobile phone company.

In 2018, Lotte Chilsung announced the release of the Pepsi retro limited-edition package to celebrate Pepsi’s 125th anniversary.

History of Pepsi Can Design

Current Pepsi Can Design

The image above shows the brief history of the Pepsi can design. An interesting thing is that Pepsi cans were actually white in the early days, which is different compared to the current blue design. In the beginning, Pepsi’s logo was very colorful and there were many decorations on it. In 1962, Pepsi removed the world ‘COLA’ from the design. Also, instead of using a bottle cap design, they changed the logo into a neat round shape. There was a big change in the Pepsi logo in 2008. Pepsi said that the original logo was slightly twisted to make it look like a smile.

Gompyo Flour

Gompyo Beer

A jacket and snacks which have the Gompyo logo on them.

Gompyo was a Korean flour manufacturing company. It collaborated with, Sevenbrau, a brewery, to launch Gompyo Beer. It became so popular that other goods based on the Gompyo logo design were launched.

Kim Youngwoo  kyeryoong@gmail.com

<저작권자 © 홍익대영자신문사, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지>