The experience of growing up in the 90s

Keat Teoh
Keat Teoh
Jul 25, 2017 · 4 min read

Or how I learned to stop being a skeptic and love the ads.

As a kid growing up in the United States throughout the ‘90s and into the early 2000s, I can confidently say I’m a survivor and by-product marketing schemes aimed at kids. When it came to products that I desired as an adolescent, there was a long list of wants: fast food and sugary cereals bundled with free toys, video game spin offs from popular cartoons or action flicks, virtual pets that existed on a pixelated screen, trading cards, action figures from cartoons and blockbusters… the list goes on and on.

This toy made me rethink what joints were actually movable

The recurring feeling I always had, once I acquired any of these desirables, was disappointment. Most products sold to kids during the ‘90s were poorly designed. Or at least the product designer didn’t prioritize the end-user experience. Looking back now, I think most of the budget, time and energy were focused on marketing and focus groups. The goal was to get kids hyped about the product so that they’d convince their parents to purchase it. But once the transaction was complete, kids were left to their own devices on how to use the product. When I was a kid, customer service or returns were not a thing. I felt guilty for not playing with toys that I begged my parents to buy. Through these early childhood experiences, I’ve built up a sense of skepticism towards marketing.

“Even as a kid, I remember theorizing solutions for the product to address this simple flaw.”

One such experience I had was the Terminator 2 video game, built for the Nintendo console. Having seen the movie, I became a huge fan of the franchise. The allure of a being a kid and kicking ass with a cyborg buddy resonated with me. And when T2 came out on the Nintendo, I couldn’t be happier. Alas the video game fell short of my expectations. Sure there was plenty of ass kicking within the game, but mostly involved my ass getting kicked by the game’s AI. To add insult to (virtual) injury, there were no save or load options for the game. Anytime I lost within the game, it didn’t matter if I had invested hours into the game, it was back to level one. It didn’t feel good to have lost all that time spent for nothing, but it also didn’t feel good to stop playing the game. Even as a kid, I remember theorizing solutions for the product to address this simple flaw.

In the 90s, companies poured millions of dollars into youth marketing. Anyone who was trying to break into the kids market could not compete with a budget like that. It was me against the million dollar industry of youth marketing, which turned me into a cynical consumer. That being said, an example of a product that has earned my respect today is Instagram.

Instagram is one example of how marketing platforms have adapted and improved since the 90s. It serves as both a platform for advertisements (as TV was in the 90s) and a product itself (as toys were in the 90s). Existing across different devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers, Instagram has become a much more powerful marketing tool that television has in the past. Since its humble beginnings as simply a photo sharing app that came with nifty filters, Instagram has added features over the years such as filter functionality, video recording, Boomerang for video looping, geo-tagging, advertising and running multiple accounts. Its even adapted to the user market by imitating Snapchat by introducing Stories and Live, where the user can broadcast their thoughts, recorded or live, with a simple swipe of a screen. And, with Instagram, businesses can spend as little as $5 to reach a wide and well-focused demo-graph.

Instagram then and now.

I happen to a habitual user of Instagram, as are many of my peers, friends and family. As a digital product, it’s successful in attracting users and providing a social media platform, for both personal users and businesses. With over 700 million users worldwide and growing, Instagram’s platform has enabled many businesses to expand by marketing to Instagram’s users with advertising. Some businesses have flourished solely on Instagram’s platform. Some users who use Instagram extensively can generate income working as influencers, by helping businesses promote their brand and products.

As a skeptic and critic of adverts, Instagram is OK in my book. As a digital product, I’m a loyal user. As a marketing tool, I don’t mind the focused yet subtle ads that show up on my feed, because I have discovered great products and services through it. I can’t say if Instagram will be the future of retail, but I can safely say its a innovative product in its current form.

Keat Teoh

Written by

Keat Teoh

UX designer for GreenSlate. Founder of Beast Quality Stamps.

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