MORE things that make people nostalgic around the world (your picks)

Summary

The video explores the phenomenon of nostalgia surrounding everyday consumer objects from the past. The host, JJ, highlights how certain items like notebooks, chocolate bars, and kitchenware evoke strong sentimental feelings in various cultures. Viewers from different countries share their own examples, including nostalgic items such as British Freddo chocolate bars, Russian video games, Brazilian kitchen aesthetics, and Taiwanese plastic sandals. The video emphasizes how these objects become iconic symbols of a bygone era, representing cultural identity and consumer trends, even inspiring modern merchandise and quirky memorabilia.

Takeaways

• 📔 The video discusses how ordinary consumer objects from the past have become nostalgic cult items, with the example of Canadian notebooks being highly nostalgic for Millennials and Gen Xers.
• 🍫 In the UK, the Fredo chocolate bar is a sentimentalized item, with its price fluctuations jokingly referred to as 'Fredo flation', indicating the changing economic times.
• 🥤 Ecuadorians have a nostalgic attachment to 'Beba', a sweet beverage in baby-shaped plastic bottles, despite its odd taste, and it has inspired themed merchandise.
• 🇫🇷 In France, the scent of Cleopatra glue has led to the creation of nostalgically themed perfume, shower gel, and deodorant.
• 🛏️ South Africans have a nostalgic connection to a specific mattress pattern, which has been repurposed into fashion items and is seen as a symbol of cultural heritage.
• 🏭 Swiss supermarket Migros' budget product line from the 90s has a distinctive green packaging that is now used on ironic and fashionable items.
• 🏪 A Danish tobacco girl poster from the 40s and 50s has become a minimalist aesthetic symbol and is still popularly displayed in homes.
• 🧊 American 'Jazz Cup' paper cups from the 1990s are now remembered through ironic merchandise and the original designer's unexpected fame.
• 🍦 Deformed popsicle molds, particularly of cartoon characters, are a source of nostalgia and humor in American culture.
• 🇧🇷 Brazilians have a nostalgic attachment to 60s and 70s kitchenware, which is now seen as a symbol of national pride and is used in modern contexts.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the video?

The main theme of the video is how ordinary consumer objects from the past have become the center of nostalgia, with various examples from around the world showing how people form sentimental attachments to these objects.

What specific example of nostalgia does the host give from Canada?

The host mentions nostalgic notebooks used by Canadian Millennials and Gen Xers in elementary school, which are now being turned into guitar pedals as a sign of their beloved status.

What is the concept of 'Fredo-flation' in the UK?

Fredo-flation refers to the nostalgic and humorous tracking of the increasing price of Fredo chocolate bars in the UK, often used as a way to joke about the economy and the rising cost of living.

What nostalgic object from Ecuador does the host mention?

The host mentions 'Beba,' a nostalgic drink for older generations in Ecuador. It was made from jelly powder mixed with water and sold in baby-shaped bottles. Despite its odd taste, it remains a nostalgic trigger.

What unusual product inspired by nostalgia does the host mention from France?

The host mentions that in France, the smell of Cleopatra glue has become so nostalgic that it inspired products like perfume, shower gel, and deodorant.

What is the nostalgic object related to mattresses in South Africa?

In South Africa, a specific floral pattern found on old mattresses has become a source of nostalgia, with the pattern now being used on clothing like shirts and shorts.

How does nostalgia around supermarket products manifest in Switzerland and Canada?

In Switzerland, the 'Migro budget' green packaging has become iconic and is now used on nostalgic merchandise. In Canada, the 'No Name' yellow packaging evokes similar nostalgic feelings.

What is a nostalgic kitchen item from Brazil that Millennials and Gen Z are fond of?

A nostalgic kitchen item from Brazil is the 'filtro de barro,' or clay water filter, along with a specific type of ribbed cup known as 'Lago inha glass,' which is part of the retro aesthetic many Brazilians appreciate.

What is the iconic nostalgic object associated with school life in Spain?

In Spain, the term 'EGB generation' refers to those who went through the Spanish education system in the 1970s to 1990s. Nostalgia for this era includes items like textbooks and school supplies, which have inspired modern-day merchandise.

What example does the host give of a product that sparked public outrage when it changed its design?

The host gives the example of Stella Artois beer glasses in Belgium, which replaced their traditional ribbed glasses with chalice-style glasses. This change caused significant public backlash, as people were attached to the original design.

Outlines

00:00

📔 Nostalgic Consumer Objects and Their Cultural Impact

The video script discusses the phenomenon of ordinary consumer objects from the past becoming nostalgic cult items. The host, JJ, shares examples from various countries, such as Canadian notebooks, UK's Fredo chocolate bars, and Ecuador's Beba beverages. These items have inspired merchandise and discussions about their sentimental value, reflecting cultural and economic changes over time.

05:02

🌍 Global Nostalgia in Consumer Goods

This paragraph explores how different countries have their own unique nostalgic consumer items. From France's Cleopatra-inspired products to South Africa's mattress pattern fashion, each item represents a cultural memory. The US is highlighted for its Jazz Cup and cartoon character popsicles, while Brazil and Spain also have their own nostalgic kitchenware and school-related items, showing a global trend of sentimentality towards consumer goods.

10:03

🏭 Nostalgia for Communist-Era Consumer Products

The script delves into nostalgia for consumer goods from the communist era in Eastern Europe and beyond. It mentions PRL nostalgia in Poland, Yugo cars in the former Yugoslavia, and Soviet-era LED games in Russia. These items, despite their practical shortcomings, are cherished for their historical and cultural significance, reflecting a complex relationship with the past.

15:04

🍺 Consumer Goods and National Identity

The final paragraph discusses how consumer goods can become symbols of national identity and trigger public sentiment. It covers cases like Stella Artois beer glasses in Belgium, Uruguayan chocolate milk cartons, and the Kinder chocolate bar in Germany. These examples illustrate how changes to iconic products can lead to public outrage and a desire to preserve traditional designs, highlighting the emotional connection people have with familiar brands.

Keywords

💡Nostalgia Cults

Nostalgia Cults refer to the phenomenon where ordinary consumer objects from the past gain a sentimental value and are revered by certain groups of people. In the video, JJ discusses how certain nostalgic items, like notebooks from Canada, have become the center of their own 'cults', with people creating and selling merchandise to capitalize on the nostalgia associated with these items.

💡Sentimentalized Objects

Sentimentalized objects are items that evoke strong feelings of nostalgia and are often associated with personal or collective memories. The video explores various examples of such objects from different countries, like the Fredo chocolate bar in the UK, which is used to humorously track inflation and economic changes over time.

💡Consumer Goods

Consumer goods are products that are ultimately bought by consumers for personal use. The video uses consumer goods as a lens to explore cultural nostalgia, showing how items like Beba drinks in Ecuador or the Jazz Cup in the US have become iconic and are now part of a nostalgic subculture.

💡Cultural Nostalgia

Cultural nostalgia is a longing for the cultural elements of the past, often associated with a sense of loss or change in society. The video script mentions how certain products, like the tobacco girl poster in Denmark, are not only nostalgic but also represent a specific cultural and historical period, invoking a sense of cultural nostalgia.

💡Ironic Merchandise

Ironic merchandise refers to products that are created to mock or playfully reference something that is considered outdated or kitschy. The video discusses how the Jazz Cup, once a common paper cup, has now become a subject for ironic merchandise, reflecting a shift in how the item is perceived and used in contemporary culture.

💡Economic Times

Economic times refer to the periods of economic prosperity or decline. The video suggests that nostalgia for consumer goods can be linked to nostalgia for good economic times, as seen with the Fredo chocolate bar in the UK, where its price fluctuations are used as a measure of economic change.

💡National Brands

National brands are products or services that are strongly associated with a particular country. The video script mentions how national brands, such as Stella Artois in Belgium, can become the subject of nostalgia and public outrage when they change iconic elements of their branding, highlighting the emotional connection people have with these brands.

💡Communist Era Nostalgia

Communist Era Nostalgia refers to the nostalgia felt for consumer goods and cultural elements from the time when a country was under a communist government. The video gives examples from Poland, Hungary, and the former Yugoslavia, where old cars and other products from the communist era are now collectibles and symbols of nostalgia.

💡Cultural Artifacts

Cultural artifacts are items that represent or reflect a particular culture's history, values, or traditions. The video discusses various cultural artifacts, such as...

Highlights

Ordinary consumer objects from the past can become the center of nostalgia cults.

Canadian notebooks from the past are nostalgic for Millennials and Gen Xers.

Guitar pedals made to look like nostalgic notebooks are an example of capitalizing on sentimentality.

The Fredo chocolate bar in the UK is a sentimentalized item, with its price fluctuations jokingly tracking the UK economy.

Ecuadorian 'Beba', a sweet beverage, is a nostalgic item despite its oddity.

French children have a fondness for the smell of Cleopatra glue, leading to nostalgic-themed perfumes and shower gels.

A South African mattress pattern has become a fashion statement for generations X and Millennials.

Swiss supermarket Migros' budget product packaging has been repurposed for ironic fashion.

Canadian 'No Name' supermarket brand's packaging is used in nostalgic and whimsical contexts.

Danish 'Tobaks/span' poster is a minimalist aesthetic and a reminder of post-war consumer booms.

American 'Jazz Cup' is a 90s nostalgic item now seen in ironic and kitschy objects.

Cartoon character-shaped popsicles are a nostalgic food item in American culture.

Empty Bimbo cans and butter cookie tins are used for storage, reflecting a mix of nostalgia and practicality.

Brazilian Baby Boomers' kitchen aesthetics are still popular among younger generations.

Spanish kitchen items like a specific can opener and glassware are iconic and sentimental.

Spanish Millennials have a sentimentality for the 'egb' education system and its associated items.

Mexican grade school textbook covers are now a source of memes and souvenirs.

East Germans have a nostalgia for consumer goods from the time of the GDR, known as 'Ostalgie'.

Communist-era cars in Poland, Hungary, and former Yugoslavia are a source of nostalgia and collectibles.

Russian nostalgia for late Soviet-era LED games, especially an egg catch game featuring a wolf and bunny.

Transcripts

Hello friends my name is JJ and last

week I made a video talking about the

phenomenon of ordinary consumer objects

from years past becoming the center of

their own little Nostalgia Cults the

example I led with were these notebooks

from Canada which are an extremely

nostalgic item for Millennials and gen

xers up here because these were the

notebooks that we used when we were in

elementary school there is a company in

Winnipeg making guitar pedals done up to

look like these books which is the sort

of thing you see when a nostalgic object

is truly beloved you know people making

and selling all sorts of knick-knacks of

it in order to capitalize on the

sentimentality anyway I asked you guys

to give me some good examples of

similarly sentimentalized nostalgic

objects from your countries and boy oh

boy did we get some fun ones so join me

won't you as we take a little tour of

nostalgia triggering objects of the

world my friend fighty fish

1779 starts us off with this interesting

tale from Great Britain in the UK the

Fredo chocolate bar is very

sentimentalized it's basically a very

cheap frog-shaped bar of chocolate

you'll often hear older people say

things like I remember when a Fredo was

only 10p and the fluctuating price of a

Fredo bar is a common way to joke about

the state of the UK economy and the cost

of living I looked into this and he's

right the Brits even have this whole

concept of Fredo flation as a sort of

pseudo scientific process of tracking

just how things ain't what they used to

be in this 2016 Telegraph story they

published a little chart noting that the

cost of Fredo bars has significantly

outpaced the British rate of inflation

increasing over

4.55% per year if Fredo prices continue

to rise at a consistent rate by 2030 one

of them will set you back and ey

watering 38p they note with considerable

alarm food was by far the most common

thing that you guys identified as being

at the center of nostalgic Cults in your

countries and more often than not it

wasn't even particularly good food as

this example from my friend from Ecuador

illustrates in Ecuador we have some old

timey disgusting sweet beverages called

Beba a weird way of saying baby that are

basically jelly powder in water put into

a SAU baby-shaped plastic bottle I do

not get how they were ever popular but

they still exist as a Nostalgia trigger

for Boomers and genxers I recently found

out that you can now buy Beba themed

merch and I saw a Beba shaped lamp at

the local designer store on that note

some of your examples of modern-day

merchandise made to capitalize on the

nostalgic memories of old products were

pretty bizarre for example my friend

Pierre informs me that a lot of children

in France an grew up using a brand of

glue called Cleopatra and apparently

fondness for its distinctive smell is so

strong that they now sell Cleopatra

inspired perfume shower gel and

deodorant here is one from my friend

Ryan from South Africa a strangely

specific one from South Africa the

pattern from a mattress it was so

ubiquitous that Googling South African

mattress pattern brings it up in all of

its' 7s color themed Floral Glory it

came back into fashion recently being

worn proudly on shirts shorts and

possibly even underwear by gen xers and

Millennials and perhaps to a lesser

extent their children a similar example

comes from my Swiss friend claudo who

tells me about a pattern associated with

the popular Swiss supermarket chain Mig

gr apparently in the 9s they introduced

a line of lowcost products called migro

budget that Fe feat this distinctive

green packaging and now the pattern from

that packaging is often used on ironic

shirts and shoes and sunglasses and dead

spreads this is actually very

reminiscent of something similar that we

have in Canada our dominant supermarket

chain law BLS also introduced a line of

budget products known as no name that

were very popular in the 9s and you

often see its distinctive yellow

packaging style used in similarly

Whimsical contexts by nostalgic

Millennial types another Supermarket

related example comes from my Danish

friend uh Renard one thing that I can

think of in Denmark is the poster with

the tobac span or the tobacco girl this

was an ad that came about in the 40s and

50s from a supermarket group known as

FDB which later became coup which is

still a Mainstay of the Danish consumer

market today so many people even those

who wouldn't have been alive at the time

that these ads were ruined hang these

things on wall as a minimalist aesthetic

that fits really well with the general

Nordic design of grayscale paint beyond

that it just reminds people of the

post-war boom when The Wider world and

the consumer booms of Life came to the

average Danish household that said there

have been debates on the P nature of the

ad since it also calls back to an

orientalizing Viewpoint to boot Africans

and other people of the global South but

for the most part the debate has not

really changed its population the artist

of this design agay siker Hansen was

also responsible for other designs such

as a coffee one for the circle coffe

that's also a common poster in my

childhood home and in many Danish homes

we had both hanging up in our hallway

now obviously the good old us and day as

the world's dominant producer of

consumer goods has produced no shortage

of nostalgia triggering things indeed we

could argue that much of the world's

Nostalgia these days is basically just

Nostalgia for American things whether

that's American cars fashion TV shows

music or fast food that said the US has

also produced a few consumer products

that aren't that well known outside of

the states but are the subject of

enormous sentimentality within the

country the object my American viewers

brought up the most was this the

so-called Jazz Cup this was a cheap

style of paper cup that was extremely

ubiquitous in the 1990s seen in all

sorts of places that were too stingy to

use real cops including the dentist

office School cafeterias outdoor parties

and the break room at your parents

office today memories of these cups live

on mostly in the form of ironic kitchy

objects done up in their distinctive

pattern but my favorite example of this

particular nostalgic cult is the fact

that the graphic designer who came up

with the cup design back in the 9s was

eventually Tracked Down by reporters who

wanted to hear the full story behind

this beloved American original it was an

unanticipated burst of Fame for a woman

who was clearly a little bemused that

this was what her Legacy was going to be

I don't understand it these cartoon

characterface shaped popsicles are

another thing that a number of my

American friends mentioned usually Sonic

or SpongeBob I think anybody under the

age of 40 grew up with these things in

some form and you see them parody a lot

in American culture these days I

remember this one guy did a performance

art piece with this sort of popsicle

done up in the shape of various American

billionaires in order to let you

literally Eat the Rich the grotesqueness

of these things is also fairly legendary

given how deformed the faces often get

not only as they melt but often just due

to sloppy construction at the old ice

cream factory Nickelodeon actually sold

a set of plastic figurines of deformed

SpongeBob popsicles reflecting just how

Central this one weird aspect of them

had become to their nostalgic appeal

another great American example comes

from my friend Rebecca who like many

Americans is half Latino and half white

and she says for lots of young Latino

kids it's the empty booo cans storing

something totally different and on my

white side the butter cookie tin storing

sewing supplies I actually bought a set

of this type of cookies a while ago not

actually wanted to eat them but because

I knew I wanted to store my thumbtacks

and rubber bands in this type of

container other heavily sentimentalized

American containers from decades past

that you guys brought up include this

pitcher with a suction lid often used

for frozen orange juice this blue and

white ceramic pot for casseroles and

using either country Croc margarine tubs

or Cool Whip containers for storing

leftovers in the fridge speaking of

kitchen wear my friend Vinnie Scott dude

from Brazil says most Baby Boomers in

Brazil still have hes that are stuck in

the' 60s and 7s and a lot of Millennials

and genz are nostalgic for this

aesthetic and based on what some of my

other Brazilian viewers have said this

aesthetic inevitably includes a filtro

de Barrow or clay water filter Amber

durx plates this particular sort of

ribbed cup known as a Lago inha glass

and Dish cloths featuring Farm themes

over in Spain Meanwhile my friend WETA

Paddington cites a few kitchen things

considered quite iconic to Spaniards of

a certain age including this can opener

this style of plastic chair and this

type of glasswear which comes in either

orange or green my friend says lots of

people align into camps depending on

whether theirs is green or orange my

family's is orange my other Spanish

friend informs me that a lot of

millennial AED Spaniards have a big Cult

of sentimentality AR rued something

called the egb which was the acronym

used for the Spanish education system

that was in place from the early 1970s

to the early 1990s saying you are part

of the egb generation is apparently a

popular shorthand in Spain for sharing a

bundle of cultural experiences and there

was even a company called yua

a I went to egb that makes schol books

and board games Bas Rune reveling in egb

Era memories talking of school my

Mexican friend Adriano tells me about

this book which he says is a very iconic

Mexican grade school textbook and there

certainly seems to be a million memes

and souvenirs made of it now in the

first video I talked a bit about aaly

which is the stim mentality that many

people from the east of Germany feel

towards the various consumer goods that

were available back when East Germany

was a separate country under a distinct

communist government a number of you

guys from other parts of the former

communist block noted that this kind of

thing is quite popular in your countries

too my polish friend kazia

2750 tells me about PRL Nostalgia which

is the term for their communist

government that lasted until 1989 in

Poland they have PRL style bars and

every year they have a huge car show

called The this for collectors of the

weird old cars from the Communist era a

friend from Hungary says that old

communist IR cars are a source of

considerable nostalgia in his country as

well and mentions some of the popular

makes being Trant wartberg L and the

notorious Kish pulski a friend from cro

Catia meanwhile brings up the infamous

Yugo along with the FICO which he says

was the former yugoslavia's answer to

the Fiat 500 in addition to the cars

themselves people in these countries

often buy and sell all sorts of

collectible knickknacks relating to

these old cars like toys and prints and

vintage ads it's kind of an odd

phenomenon in the sense that absolutely

no one seems to believe that these cars

were in any way functionally superior to

the Western and Japanese cars that are

sold today so it's basically pure

Nostalgia for nostalgia's sake my

Russian viewers named a bunch of

different Nostalgia triggers for kids

who grew up in the later years of the

Soviet Union but what I found Most

Fascinating was my friend who told me

about Russian video games apparently

Game and Watch style handheld LED games

were quite popular in Russia in the late

Soviet ERA with the most popular of all

being this egg catch game which stars a

wolf and bunny from a popular Russian

cartoon of the time this game is the

center of a huge Cult of nostalgia in

Russia and it has been remade multiple

times on Modern systems and it's the

subject of endless parodies including

this one featuring Putin and pencils

which I do not quite understand my

Taiwanese friend Joe burgie says here in

Taiwan Peak Nostalgia is a pair of blue

and white slippers a specific sort of

plastic sandals that sell for around two

bucks us paired with a gaji bag with its

three colored stripes and handles both

were lower middle class Main Stays in

the Japanese Colonial and kmt

authoritarian era and now both have come

full circle and are sold at expensive

hipster shops in downtown Taipei when I

was searching for some images of these

Taiwanese things I came across this fun

wallpaper pattern on Shutterstock you

can see that in addition to the slippers

and bags they have these oldfashioned

scooter helmets on here which I guess

must be another very nostalgic object in

that scooter Centric Society my other

Taiwanese friend glass Yuzu adds that

these circular tin signs advertising

that a store sells liquor and cigarettes

are very heavily sentimentalized as well

he says it's funny because shops are

still required to hang them nowadays but

they have a certain retro feel that

everyone loves another theme that came

up a lot in your examples were Tales of

public outrage whenever an iconic

National brand tried to change something

substantial about one of its most

nostalgic products my Belgian friend

Stan tells me about the old style of

branded Stella Artois beer glasses known

as a rebel which had a ribbed bottom

kind of like those iconic Brazilian

glasses we talked about earlier he says

Stella discontinued them in favor of

chalice style glasses in order to give

their beer a more exclusive Allure for

the international market the new glasses

look more like the glasses that

specialty beers are served in so I guess

they figured the international audience

would associate it with premium Belgian

beers and be willing to pay premium

prices for it when they announced that

decision 10 years ago they were met with

swift backlash from belgians who loved

the traditional glasses but Stella never

walked back on their decision so now the

old ones are highly coveted by enjoyers

of the brand over in South America my

friend adur 1996 says here in Uruguay

back in 2017 the biggest Dairy company

Kona prle made a big deal out of hosting

an open call to redesign their line of

chocolate milk cartons and do away with

the outdated design that they had been

using for decades a design won the

competition made it to supermarket

shelves and a few months later due to

Consumer backlash was tossed away and

they went back to the tried andrue

design that is still being used to this

day it was such a nostalgic object

consumers refused to let it die my

German Friend Martin meanwhile offers a

very German version of this phenomenon

in Germany we have a a chocolate bar

called Kinder Chad with a very unique

design of a portrait of a little boy

smiling this face has changed multiple

times over the past decades with every

generation having a certain child as

their poster boy more recently however

there have been some promotional

packages that use childhood pictures of

German football players thus creating

controversy about changing the original

design of a white blonde boy mainly on

the political right so in the previous

video I said that sentimentality arune

consumer goods is often driven in part

by Nostalgia for good Economic Times

which most countries experienced for

several decades after World War II most

countries but not all obviously some

countries didn't develop an advanced

consumer economy until quite recently

and what's interesting is that these

countries sometimes try to skip a few

steps manufacture a cult of

sentimentality around relatively modern

products my friend from Indonesia gives

an example nostalgic merch isn't much of

a trend here probably because our

country didn't have that much consumer

spending until recently but I've seen a

similar trend of making current consumer

products into merch not driven by

Nostalgia but more national pride and

the fact that these consumer products

are Staples in our households

merchandise that I often see are are

teoto jasmine tea indomi instant noodles

and byon anti mosquito spray local

artists will often illustrate these

Brands and make them into stickers and

postcards and t-shirts and water bottles

though I don't know why anyone would

find a water bottle in the design of

toxic insect repellent appealing

appealing or not these bottles sure seem

to be popular on Indonesian Tik Tok so

hopefully you all enjoyed this little

consumerist trip AR the world longtime

viewers will know that I'm pretty Pro

consumerism in general and a big reason

why I take consumer goods so seriously

is because they can provide such a

revealing window into the lives of

people different from ourselves and

educate us about the culture that they

actually experience culture is too often

imagined as something pretentious or

precious something most Ordinary People

lack the capacity to create or

appreciate but sometimes culture is just

a deformed popsicle and that's okay

thank you all for watching and I will

see you next

[Music]

week Hello friends