// INCYMI

August 2024

Dust off your neon windbreakers and crank up the boombox, because this month, we’re taking a gnarly trip down memory lane. The advertising world has gone all in on the retro vibes, bringing us the nostalgia we never knew we’d forgotten. Here’s all the totally tubular campaigns you might’ve missed.

  • AirBNB
  • Mattel
  • Malibu Rum
  • Hinge
  • Doritos
  • Oreos
  • Taco Bell
  • McDonalds
  • New Zealand
  • Door Dash

For millennial girls who grew up in the days when dolls were just vertically integrated marketing attacks on your growing brain, AirBnB is here to hit you in the nostalgia with a chance to stay in a 42-foot-tall version of Polly Pocket’s 90s-era compact. There’s no clear indicator of what you do if it rains, or where the bathroom is located. Polly didn’t need to worry about those things.

Mattel has launched a blind Barbie doll to increase representation for the vision impaired. Working alongside the American Foundation for the Blind, the doll was made with tactile fabric and includes “Barbie” written in braille on the box.

If you like Pina Coladas and not getting caught in the rain because you’re practicing water safety, Malibu Rum has teamed up with Royal Life Saving Society UK to raise awareness of the risks surrounding alcohol consumption near water. The ad features Olympic diving champ Tom Daly (and his speedos) informing viewers not to ‘drink and dive.’

Throwing it back to the days of having to handwrite and then photocopy your feelings, Hinge has turned six real love stories into a zine. This literary anthology favoured by riot grrls and moody teens was created to challenge the notion of perfect rom-com stories and celebrate the imperfect, beautiful love all around us.

There’s currently a rumour going around about lowest-rated VP pick ever, JD Vance, that’s the equivalent of our Engadine Maccas – probably not true, but they just give off that kind of vibe, you know? Creative agency Quality Meats has played into the rumour (we’re dancing around putting it in writing), and released a special lubricant in his honour.  All proceeds go to the campaign for Kamala Harris.

We go together like Oreos and Coke, or Doritos and Coffee. If you internally said, hey, neither of those two things go together? You’d be right! But good sense never stopped anyone. Both Doritos and Oreos have released horrifying limited edition flavours of coffee and cola, respectively.

Jealous of all the card games and day drinking seniors get to do, but don’t want all the hip replacements and missing teeth? Taco Bell has built an ‘early retirement’ community. The brand is offering a weekend trip for all ages to soak up the sun and partake in senior-inspired recreation like bingo and presumably, yelling at kids to get off their lawn.

McDonalds is going retro and re-issuing the favourite souvenir of childhood dinners past – the collectable cup, with designs referencing past tie-ins with Barbie, Beanie Babies, and other deeper cuts.

New Zealand has brought back 1980s cop drama CHiPs to educate elderly people about the growing threats of scams. Besides being both a fun and comforting way to talk to seniors, it’s in line with our personal belief all safety advice should be delivered through film grain by someone with a feathered mullet.

Door Dash has released a new ad where the focus is an adorable tea cup pig. That’s all really. There’s so many awful things in adult life, sometimes we just want to direct you to places where you can see cute small animals. Enjoy.

Extra, extra!

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