When I first saw this spot for Sunny D by Boulder’s Grenadier, I thought it was amusing.
Then I learned it was based on this spot, which I should’ve remembered:
While it’s common for ad agencies and brands to reference older parts of the culture — movies, TV shows, and yes, even commercials from a previous generation — I wonder how long that will continue to happen.
Increasingly, our culture is more splintered and less monolithic. So the majority of people don’t get exposed to the same media, and therefore won’t register the same pop culture references.
Now that I understand the backstory, I see the charm in this spot. But how many people in Sunny D’s target audience will? Context matters, and in the age of instant everything, it’s rare to see advertising work in the proper context.
[UPDATE, 5/23/15]
Here’s what people (not necessarily Sunny D drinkers) are saying on Sunny D’s official YouTube page:
- Ohhhh my god this is classic haha
- I wish they’d post the original in HD so I could compare…
- Ahh the 90s. Back when ignorance didn’t exist
- I do not mind that I just watched a commercial