The term „nostalgia bait” is more and more prevalent on social media, but also in movies, music, and advertisements, and it seems to have an effect on most people from the „Millennial” and „Gen Z” generations. It could be translated as „nostalgic bait,” and it actually represents a strategy in which various elements and concepts from the past are used to obtain the positive nostalgic effect that makes people consider the content to be better, precisely because it is more familiar, according to Urban Dictionary.
Nostalgia bait is present, in one form or another, in marketing and advertisements as well. Probably the most popular example is the Coca-Cola Christmas truck commercials, which date back to 1995 and continue to this day.
@generatiacucheialagat Reclama veche Coca-Cola – Sărbătorile vin! Probabil cea mai tare reclama vazuta in perioada sarbatorilor! #viral #tiktok #cocacola #fy #christmas ♬ original sound – GeneratiaCuCheiaLaGat
However, the most frequently encountered examples where the idea of „nostalgia bait” appears are on social media, especially on TikTok, in videos or live streams featuring old advertisements, games, or devices. In Romania, one of the most well-known content creators on this topic is „retrobog88,” who posts various nostalgic videos and live streams on TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch, particularly focusing on computer games or his collection of old phones.
On his main Romanian-language TikTok account, „retrobog88” has almost 32,000 followers, over 270,000 likes, and one of his videos has garnered over 1.9 million views.
@comunitateanostalgicilor Replying to @Alexa Lexi #jocurilecopilariei #fyp #jocurivideo #nostalgie ♬ original sound – RetroBog88 (Bogdan)
@comunitateanostalgicilor #nostalgie #copilarie #comunitateanostalgicilor #nokian95 ♬ original sound – RetroBog88 (Bogdan)
There are also Romanian TikTok pages that promote old commercials or shows.
@dragosnecula11 #nostalgia #reclameromanesti #reclamevechi #mcdonalds #viral ♬ original sound – Dragos Necula🔓
@dragosnecula11 #nostalgia #reclameromanesti #reclamevechi #dosia #detergent #viral ♬ original sound – Dragos Necula🔓
However, movies enjoy the greatest success following „nostalgia bait,” although sometimes, when not executed well, nostalgic bait can also be perceived as a weak method of „gaining” fans or viewers.
Nostalgia bait in movies is used when characters or actors from older productions appear, or when scenes or references from previous creations are reproduced, to attract the audience and create positive and nostalgic emotions for them.
A good example of a film that successfully used nostalgia bait is „Top Gun: Maverick,” from 2022. The appearance on the big screen of the main character Pete „Maverick” Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise, more than 35 years after the original film, the playing of the song „Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins, as well as the return of the clothing from the original movie, are the elements that successfully define „nostalgia bait” for this film.
Nostalgia as Electoral Manipulation and Disinformation
An EduPedu analysis showed in 2024, after the presidential elections that unexpectedly propelled the then-anonymous Călin Georgescu, the pro-Russian candidate in the electoral race, into the second round, how several Facebook pages, which appear to be administered by bots and are registered at the same foreign addresses, began to flood users’ feeds with images often generated by artificial intelligence and messages promoting communist nostalgia, ultranationalism, or idealized traditions.
These pages frequently distribute links to unverified websites that not only spread disinformation but can also pose a risk to the security of users’ devices and data. The phenomenon raises questions about the extent of digital manipulation, especially after the declassified reports of national intelligence services confirmed that the Chinese network TikTok influenced the presidential elections in Romania through easily manipulated algorithms, according to EduPedu.
Moreover, the posts of these pages or other pages with a similar posting pattern, which combine political propaganda with unsourced images and emotional messages intended to capture the attention of an audience consisting mainly of adults, end up in groups dedicated to teachers and education staff, as several parents and teachers have reported to the editorial office. Read the full analysis on EduPedu.
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