Weirdly nostalgic objects from around the world
Summary
TLDRIn this video, JJ explores the global phenomenon of nostalgia-driven consumerism, focusing on how brands and products from the past have become collectibles and symbols of national pride. From Canadian stationery to East German snacks, JJ discusses the commercialization of nostalgia and its ties to material abundance, childhood memories, and nationalism. The video invites viewers to share their own examples of nostalgic consumer products, emphasizing the universality of this trend.
Takeaways
- 📺 The video discusses the global phenomenon of nostalgia for consumer goods, particularly those from one's childhood or associated with national pride.
- 🎶 JJ, the speaker, shares personal experiences of being targeted by ads for nostalgic Canadian products on Instagram, such as guitar pedals designed to look like vintage notebooks.
- 🎨 The video mentions 'retrontario', a company that sells merchandise featuring designs from popular Canadian brands like Hostess chips and Lenan colored pencils.
- 🏰 JJ has collected various nostalgic items, including a poster by Montreal artist Raymond Basinger, featuring retro Canadian package designs.
- 🍁 The iconic maple syrup can is used as a theme for various products, reflecting a multi-generational Canadian nostalgia.
- 📺 The video references YTV, a popular Canadian children's TV station, and its impact on the youth during the 90s.
- 🌍 Nostalgia for consumer goods is not unique to Canada; it's a global trend with examples from Mexico, Italy, Japan, and Germany.
- 🇩🇪 The term 'Ostalgie' is introduced, describing the nostalgia for East German products and the era before German reunification.
- 🛍️ The video suggests that the abundance of consumer goods post-World War II, the longing for childhood, and nationalism are key factors driving nostalgia for consumer products.
- 🌟 JJ invites international viewers to share examples of nostalgic consumer brands from their countries, highlighting the universality of this phenomenon.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the video script?
-The main theme of the video script is the global phenomenon of commercializing nostalgia through consumer goods, particularly focusing on how various countries have developed nostalgic cults around iconic brands and products from their past.
Why does the narrator mention guitar pedals at the beginning of the script?
-The narrator mentions guitar pedals to illustrate how social media algorithms target him with nostalgic Canadian ads, using the example of a pedal designed to look like a popular Canadian notebook from his childhood.
What is the 'homework series' of guitar pedals mentioned in the script?
-The 'homework series' of guitar pedals is a line of pedals designed to look like a nostalgic Canadian notebook that was popular during the narrator's childhood, hence the name 'homework series'.
What is the significance of the colored pencils or 'crayons' mentioned in the script?
-The colored pencils or 'crayons' mentioned in the script are significant because they represent a common item used by Canadian children and have become a symbol of nostalgia for many Canadians who grew up using them.
What does the narrator find intriguing about the nostalgic products he discusses?
-The narrator finds it intriguing that these nostalgic products can evoke powerful sentimental memories and emotions, even for relatively mundane items, and how this phenomenon is not unique to Canada but is a global trend.
Why does the narrator believe the post-World War II era is heavily sentimentalized in consumer nostalgia?
-The narrator believes the post-World War II era is heavily sentimentalized because it was a time of rapid economic growth and an explosion of new consumer goods, leading to a historically unprecedented level of material abundance and a true age of consumerism.
What is the term 'shaah Nostalgia' mentioned in the script, and what does it represent?
-The term 'shaah Nostalgia' refers to the Japanese obsession with consumer goods from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, representing a cultural fascination with products from that era.
Why does the narrator think some former East Germans might feel nostalgic for products from the Communist era?
-The narrator suggests that some former East Germans might feel nostalgic for products from the Communist era due to a longing for certain consumer goods that were made redundant after reunification, as well as a sentimentality for a period when East Germany had its own distinct identity.
What is the 'swadesi movement' mentioned in the script, and how does it relate to nostalgia?
-The 'swadesi movement' was an Indian movement post-independence that emphasized buying Indian-made products. It is related to nostalgia as it represents a time when Indian products and brands were celebrated as symbols of national pride and self-sufficiency, which is now seen with a sense of nostalgia.
What is the narrator's theory on why nostalgic cults based on brands and products are a predictable byproduct of our current era?
-The narrator's theory is that nostalgic cults based on brands and products are a byproduct of our era due to historically unprecedented levels of material abundance and consumerism, which have led to a wealth of consumer goods that people associate with their past.
What does the narrator ask his international audience to share in the comments?
-The narrator asks his international audience to share examples of iconic consumer brands or products from their countries that have become the center of nostalgic cults, products synonymous with childhood or patriotic pride, and wackiest retro nostalgia products they've seen for sale.
Outlines
🇨🇦 Nostalgic Canadiana: The Allure of Retro Brands
The speaker, JJ, discusses their recent encounters with nostalgic Canadian products advertised on Instagram. These include a guitar pedal designed to resemble a once-popular notebook from the 80s and 90s, colored pencils reminiscent of childhood, and a hoodie featuring a vintage potato chip brand. JJ explores the power of nostalgia, particularly for items that were prevalent during their youth, and how these items can evoke strong emotional responses. The speaker also mentions a poster featuring retro Canadian package designs and various memorabilia based on an iconic maple syrup can, highlighting the commercialization of national nostalgia.
🌐 Global Nostalgia and Its Impact on Consumerism
JJ expands the discussion to include the global phenomenon of nostalgia in consumer culture. They mention similar trends in Mexico, Italy, and Japan, where nostalgic products from the past decades are commercialized. The speaker theorizes that this nostalgia is a byproduct of the material abundance following World War II, when consumerism exploded, and people developed emotional attachments to the goods of their youth. The second theory is the longing for a lost childhood, where even trivial items can bring joy and a sense of reliving one's carefree past. The third variable is nationalism, where nostalgia for domestic brands can be a form of celebrating a country's unique identity and history.
🏳️🌈 Nostalgia, Nationalism, and the Fusion of Consumerism
In the final paragraph, JJ delves into how nostalgia is intertwined with nationalism and consumerism. They use the example of East Germany, where nostalgia for pre-reunification products has led to a market for 'Ostalgie' goods. The speaker suggests that this nostalgia is not just about the products themselves but also about reclaiming a sense of national pride and identity. They also mention the 'swadeshi' movement in India, which promoted domestic products as a symbol of patriotism. JJ concludes by inviting international viewers to share examples of nostalgic consumer brands from their countries, highlighting the universality of this phenomenon.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Nostalgia
💡Consumerism
💡Guitar Pedals
💡Nationalism
💡Globalization
💡East Germany
💡Reunification
💡YTV
💡Shabonostalgia
💡Swadeshi
Highlights
JJ discusses the prevalence of nostalgic Canadian middle-class knickknacks in ads on Instagram.
Description of a guitar pedal designed to resemble a popular Canadian notebook from the 80s and 90s.
Mention of the brand 'Lenon' colored pencils and their nostalgic significance for Canadian millennials.
Introduction to 'Retrontario', a company selling nostalgic Canadian products like hoodies with old package designs.
JJ's personal collection of nostalgic Canadian items, including a poster of retro Canadian package designs.
Discussion of the iconic maple syrup can and its influence on various merchandise.
Nostalgia for YTV, a popular Canadian kids' station, and its logo on a shirt.
Global phenomenon of commercializing nostalgia through consumer goods.
Examples of nostalgia-inspired products from Mexico, Italy, and Japan.
Explanation of 'Ostalgie', the German term for nostalgia for East Germany-era products.
The 'East Mart' online shop selling modern recreations of classic East German products.
JJ's theory on the connection between material abundance and nostalgia for consumer goods.
The role of childhood memories in the formation of consumer nostalgia.
Nationalism as a factor in the commercialization of nostalgia for domestic brands.
The 'swadesi' movement in India and its connection to nostalgia for domestic products.
JJ invites international viewers to share examples of nostalgic consumer brands from their countries.
Transcripts
Hello friends my name is JJ and because
social media knows me better than I know
myself I have been getting a lot of ads
on Instagram lately for nostalgic
Canadian middle class knickknacks let me
show you a couple so I don't know much
about music but my understanding is that
this is what they call a guitar pedal
it's like a thing that modifies the
sound of guitar makes in some manner
anyway this one is made up to look like
a kind of notebook that was quite
popular in Canada when I was kid hence
why they are calling this line of pedals
the homework series they still sell
these notebooks at like Staples and
things but they are nowhere near as
ubiquitous as they were when I was young
and they were like your only option
during back to school shopping but it's
for that reason that any Canadian like
me who grew up during the 80s or 90s is
likely to have powerful sentimental
memories associated with them did offer
this brand of colored pencils or as we
say in Canada
crayons lenan brand was every Millennial
Canadian kids goto and Instagram has
informed me that there is a company
called retrontario that sells a hoodie
with the package design on it they also
sell one with the little hostess goblins
Hostess being a popular Canadian potato
chip brand back in the day I think they
were the company that invented the
ketchup chips that Canada has become so
known for now I of course am a giant
sucker for this kind of stuff so let me
just show you some of the nostalgic
Canadian junk that the internet has
convinced me to buy over the years this
for example is a very cool poster
featuring a big Montage of retro
Canadian package designs that I grew up
with like Windsor brand salt and Robin
Hood brand flour look I actually have
some Windsor brand salt right here it
was done by a Montreal artist named
Raymond Basinger who does a lot of cool
Canadian nostalgic art of this sort I've
also collected a number of knick-knacks
based on this iconic maple syrup can
this thing is actually from a bit before
my time I grew up getting my syrup from
these opaque plastic jugs I think that
the can was more of a boomer thing but
Nostalgia for it has nevertheless
spanned multiple Canadian generations
and you can buy all sorts of stuff done
up in its iconic look like this candle
or these mints or this card game or this
pillow and then there is this shirt that
I wearing which features a logo from YTV
which was a popular Canadian kids
station when I was growing up youth
television is what it stood for YTV had
a lot of different logos during the 9s
and this neon green skull was the one
that they'd use during after school and
evening programming I guess it was
supposed to make the pre-teens who were
staying up late to watch episodes of
reboot or Are You Afraid of the Dark
feel all cool and edgy now the making
and selling of fun product products
based on National Nostalgia isn't
something that is remotely unique to
Canada in fact I suspect that most
countries on this planet are home to
online shops selling various Trinkets
and bobbles based on popular products
and brands of decades past for instance
another ad I saw on Instagram the other
day was for a store called Mexi stuff
which sells a bunch of nostalgia
inspired things from Mexican culture
like these slippers done up in the style
of a popular store-bought snack cake or
this rolly suitcase based on an iconic
peanut marpin candy that Mexican parents
might buy for their kids from one of
those guys who sells you things at the
stoplight I was also pitched this
beautiful poster made by an Italian
artist which apparently depicts the
iconic ice creams of the unforgettable
Italian Summers and it in turn reminded
me of some similar posters I've seen
advertised by this artist from new New
Zealand who sells all sorts of very cool
prints depicting beloved New Zealand ice
creams and candies in various creative
ways and of course longtime viewers will
be very familiar with my new Found Love
of so-called shaah Nostalgia which is
the term that the Japanese used to
describe their obsession with consumer
goods from the 60s 7s and 80s there is
no shortage of trinkets you can buy
based on shaah era stuff but here are
some stickers that I bought at the
Japanese import store the the other day
this sheet shows a bunch of different
household Electronics this one is
Kitchen wear and this one is different
little containers of milk like you might
get for your lunch at school now one of
the more extreme versions of this sort
of thing is what the Germans call
oaly or
ealia which is Nostalgia for all things
associated with the former East Germany
East Germany was of course a Communist
dictatorship that was set up to run the
eastern half of Germany after World War
II and didn't reunite with so-called
West Germany until 1990 the
reunification of the germanies was one
of the great triumphs of democracy that
brought the Cold War to an end but as
time has gone on some former East
Germans have nevertheless begun to slip
into a bit of sentimentality about life
under the old regime sometimes the
Nostalgia is explicitly political you
know the communist government kept us
safer or whatever but more often it is
just defined by sentimental memories of
certain consumer goods that were made
redundant after reunification a lot of
the old communist run east German
companies couldn't compete with the
higher quality West German Brands so
their products steadily disappeared from
Eastern supermarkets and shopping malls
a fact which would then occasionally
provoke bursts of sentimental longing
from East Germans who grew up in the 80s
or earlier this cool website Al see lden
or east Mart is an online shop that
sells modern Recreations of all sorts of
classic East German products like this
communist pasta sauce or this old type
of flower flavored soda or these
chocolate bars done up in the style of
the old East German money I have to say
some of the stuff they're selling is so
hyp specific it can be a somewhat
unsettling glimpse into just how strong
this East German nostalgic can get like
I guess some people must have a real
powerful longing for this particular
brand of discontinued drain declogger
but if the choices are too overwhelming
you can always just buy one of their
giant ealia boxes packed to the brim
with a wide variety of e stalgic Goods I
bet these are popular birthday gifts for
East German gen xers so anyway this is a
very fascinating Global phenomenon eh
the fact that so many countries are all
commercializing nostalgia in such
similar ways all over the world world
it's gotten to the point that whenever I
travel to a foreign land figuring out
what specific brands or products are at
the center of their local Nostalgia cult
is always one of my top priorities along
with buying up some good souvenirs of it
but why is it happening well I have a
few theories Theory one is just that
nostalgic Cults based Rune Brands and
products are a predictable byproduct of
our historically unprecedented levels of
material abundance after World War III
almost everywhere on Earth experienced a
period of Rapid economic growth and with
it an explosion of new consumer goods it
was the dawn of the true age of
consumerism and it hasn't been runed for
that long if you look at this chart from
the US you will see that consumer
spending as a share of the economy had a
big spike after the second world war and
Rose pretty steadily after the 1980s the
numbers from other countries tend to
show similar Trends so it is probably no
coincidence that these tend to be the
eras of consumerism that are the most
heavily sentimentalized today a guy
living a hundred years ago by contrast
might have had some Nostalgia for like a
certain type of cookie that his parents
used to buy at Christmas or something
but it would be a much less elaborate
consumer Nostalgia just because the
consumer culture of that time was much
less elaborate people were poorer and
owned fewer things and the things that
they did own were far less functional
and beautiful than the stuff we have
today so it makes perfect sense for
anyone who grew up in the post-war
period to feel nostalgic for Consumer
life because consumer life has gotten
pretty good I think it would be a pretty
spoiled and decadent society that didn't
have any Nostalgia for consumer goods at
all all right so the second Factor would
be longing for a lost childhood
childhood is a generally happy and
carefree phase of life life and we only
become more aware of just how happy and
carefree it is as we age so it's only
natural that we develop fond memories of
anything that reminds us of that time of
our lives even relatively frivolous or
unimportant things like the brand of
colored pencils that we used in
elementary school children also tend to
be more grateful than adults and derive
more meaning and Joy from things like
toys and snacks and school supplies but
what's interesting is that this
emotional attachment often doesn't fade
as we get older so when we reencounter
beloved consumer goods from our
childhoods were're often surprised by
just how joyful they still make us feel
now obviously we shouldn't be too
backwards facing we should have faith
that our futures will be full of great
things too but when a retro product
advertises itself as a way to help you
relive your childhood it is making a
pitch that resonates because it appeals
to our longing to appreciate the
pleasures of the material world in a Pur
sort of way and the third variable I
would identify is nationalism today of
course we live in a hyper globalized
World driven by unprecedented amots of
international trade in which a lot of
our consumer goods come from giant
transnational brands most nostalgic
Goods however tend to come from the late
20th century or earlier when the
consumer culture of most countries tend
to feature a lot more unique domestic
Brands than today when we celebrate
those Brands we thus celebrate a period
of our nation's past that was seen as
more patriotically
self-confident even if not necessarily
better none of the companies that made
those iconic Canadian pencil crayons or
notebooks or potato chips exist anymore
they were all bought up by larger
American companies and their products
were displaced in Canadian stores by
American brands objectively this was a
good thing since the American companies
made higher quality products that have
made the lives of Canadians better but
Canadians are also more than a little
insecure about the degree that increased
trade with the US can also flatten out
some of the small differences between
the two countries so embracing
distinctly Canadian goods from the pre-
NAFTA era becomes a way to keep that
distinct iess alive this is also clearly
the case with those East German Products
East Germany has lost a lot of its
distinctiveness now that it's been
absorbed into the west and even though
this has been good for the East Germans
from a quality of life perspective it
has also robbed them of the pride they
were once able to enjoy as a separate
country with its own flag and national
anthem and Olympic team and all of the
rest re-embracing even objectively
inferior consumer products can thus be a
way way to reclaim some of that Pride
without whitewashing the tyranny of the
old regime here is another good example
that I learned about recently when India
became independent from England in the
late 1940s they had this whole thing
called the swadesi movement which
emphasized the importance of buying
indian-made products from Indian
companies rather than British ones this
brand of cookies is considered a real
icon of that era it is very boned up in
a lot of nostalgic sentimentality among
middle-aged middleclass Indians both as
a symbol of their youth but also a
symbol of a certain sense of
old-fashioned Indian patriotism if you
go online these days you can buy all
sorts of stuff with the cookie package
on it as well as stuff with some of the
other iconic swad dishy snacks now today
of course Indian grocery stores are full
of all sorts of Western Brands and it's
no longer seen as unpatriotic to like
Oreos or Pepsi or whatever but cookies
like these which are still being sold
and still have the same package design
that they've had since the 1950s are a
great example of how Nostalgia
nationalism and consumerism are so often
fused together in modern times now I
have to confess the purpose of this
video is engagement bait I know I have a
very International audience and I always
love it when my overseas viewers give me
examples of a thing that I'm talking
about from their country so on that note
allow me to ask explicitly what are some
examples of iconic consumer brands or
products from your country that have
become the center of little nostalgic
Cults in recent years what are some
products that are considered synonymous
with childhood or patriotic Pride even
if they're a little crappy and
old-fashioned and what are some of the
wackiest retro Nostalgia products that
you've seen for sale I would be
particular particularly curious about
some non food examples like the Canadian
notebooks or the showah kitchen wear I
feel it's very easy to get sentimental
about candy but getting sentimental
about a specific type of kettle well
that's pretty unique so yeah give me
some examples in the comments and maybe
next week I can follow up with a video
with some of the best ones thank you so
much for watching do not forget to like
And subscribe and I will see you next
week
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