Hot Take: are nostalgia commercials the reboots we have been looking for?
It’s that time of year again — the season of giving has arrived with full force and companies are upping their advertising game in order to stand out amongst all the lovely Christmas commercialism. However, Comcast’s Xfinity recently dropped a wonderful gem of an ad that might share an unintended message with the modern film industry.
First, let’s go back to the 2018 Christmas season for a second, when Google released a Home Alone-based ad for their Google Smart Home (the Google version of Amazon’s Alexa for anyone confused.) Macaulay Culkin reprised his role for the one-minute flick, in which he re-creates many of the most popular scenes from the 1995 Christmas classic: putting on after-shave, jumping on his parent’s bed, eating an unusually large bowl of ice cream, messing with the pizza guy, and making a hearty box mac and cheese for dinner. This time, Kevin Mcallister is aided by the Google Assistant, and the now-famous commercial closes with the phrase, “make Google do it.” At only a minute in length, this commercial was a light-hearted nostalgia trip that was far more memorable than any of the Home Alone sequels following Lost in New York.
Fast forward to present day, and Xfinity has blessed us with yet another nostalgic advertisement, and, though over four minutes long this time around, it is just as awesome as last year’s holiday throwback.
The film of choice? Spielberg’s 1982 hit E.T. The Extraterrestrial.
In the commercial, E.T arrives at the house of a grown-up Elliot and his family (Like Culkin, Henry Thomas is back to reprise his childhood role as E.T’s best human friend). He introduces the beloved alien to his children, and a montage of cute winter adventures follows. John William’s iconic theme plays as E.T takes Elliot’s children on a flying bike ride (yes, their silhouettes pass the moon) before E.T returns to his ship, this time without needing to phone home.
“I’ll be right here.”
Now, we must remember that we are being sold something here. Xfinity comes into play by incorporating their devices: the children using a virtual reality headset, a tablet, and Xfinity’s microphone remote to search for “holiday movies” when the family gathers together. The company ends the film with the simple slogan “reconnect for the holidays.” Thanks Xfinity, I am crying.
On the surface, this is an extremely clever marketing scheme. A successful one too, for Xfinity’s advertisement had five and a half million views within a day of its release and was the #1 trending video on Twitter at the time. Yes, these companies are capitalizing on the same nostalgia that drew us into theaters to see Aladdin, The Lion King and Charlie’s Angels. It is no secret that their goal is to sell their products, hence the fact that these are commercials.
The modern film industry is oversaturated with nostalgia. How often recently have we heard the words remake, reboot, or sequel in the news? And how often are these remakes and reboots better than the original films? (Charlie’s Angels recent box office flop for example.) I, for one, have found myself groaning when I read news of another reboot, wishing that the film industry would simply leave an original franchise alone (Deadline reported that a Pirates of the Caribbean reboot is in the works, come on?!) The issue with reboots is that, rather than commemorate what we loved about original films, they often expand on the originals in cheesy, forgettable ways that ruin the content we grew up with. Regardless, these films are attracting an audience with a taste for anything that brings them back to their childhood. But my case rests with this example: I love Jurassic Park. I couldn’t tell you a thing about Jurassic World.
Nevertheless, whoever runs the marketing division of Google and Xfinity may be onto something. Now, I need to acknowledge that commercials that include movies have been made before, but these two stand out in particular because of their relation to the modern obsession with nostalgia. From a marketing perspective, these are incredibly effective considering the social media buzz and views that each commercial received. From a film perspective, these commercials adeptly use nostalgia to honor original films without ruining them with flat stories.
We all love to rewatch what we grew up with. What we don’t love is mediocre remakes that feel stretched out and unnecessary. In the case of nostalgia that seemed like 2019’s biggest cash grab, it is commercials for the win: four poignant minutes of E.T and Elliot’s reunion are far more watchable than 120 minutes of live action lions.
