In the face of economic crises, climate anxieties, and global wars, people are seeking solace through connection. They want to be sure someone will hold their hand in the face of hardship. As a result, they have higher expectations of care and understanding from interactions with brands, social systems, and p...

People are craving comfort. Amid what can feel like a state of constant crisis – a layering of traumatic societal events – it can sometimes seem like we’ve lost a sense of scale and cohesion. In the face of this, the desire to retreat into nostalgia is more seductive than ever.

As part of its Big Good strategy, McDonald's has launched the ‘Hamburger That Could Not Be’ campaign to support local farmers and ranchers affected by wildfires in Spain. It's allowing customers to help make a real change without having to drastically alter their behaviour.

As people seek to mine the past for comfort and connection, especially among music listening habits, Wendy's leverages nostalgia through a collaboration with autotune hitmaker T-Pain. The partnership follows a trend of brands utilizing artists in marketing to create memorable campaigns.

Nostalgia cycles are shortening as people obsess over times barely passed via popular digital archive accounts that let them cultivate their feeds (without input from an algorithm) and bypass cultural gatekeepers. But how are these visual repositories enabling people to shape new memories as well?

From restaurant closures and the growing convenience of food delivery apps, the UK high street has suffered and many businesses have shuttered as a result. Wimpy, a fast-food chain founded in 1954, has navigated pandemic uncertainty and is reigniting people's love for nostalgic dining.