Polaroid OneStep Instant Photos Being Snapped Up By Gen Z and Millennials
As a Baby Boomer, I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I see something from my past that is still in demand today.
The Shelby Mustang has renewed interest because of “Ford vs. Ferrari”, but I remember how excited my sister was when our Dad bought her a 1965 Mustang.
Hush Puppy shoes are still around and have enjoyed a second life since the mid- 1990s, thanks in part to Malcolm Gladwell’s example of something old that’s new again in The Tipping Point.
Printed Photos in 60 Seconds
Now, I just saw an article about Polaroid in Ad Age magazine. Its OneStep 2 camera currently selling for $130 is a throwback to an earlier era when we could enjoy seeing photos develop in about a minute before our very eyes when it would take a week or so to take film from a conventional camera to a drug store and wait for the lab to process the snapshots.
“Polaroids” were especially embraced at parties, graduations, and other special celebrations. I’ll bet senior living communities around the country are even pulling out their Polaroids (new or vintage) to capture a 100th birthday or a 75th anniversary festivities to help residents relive happier times.
Smartphones vs. Standalone Cameras
Even though more than 270 million Americans own and use smartphones to snap zillions of photos daily with their digital cameras, those images only live on the camera screen, not on the page. So the younger folks want something as tangible evidence of a moment in time beyond pixels.
“Polaroids are cool the way vinyl is cool,” said brand and tech consultant David Deal. “Polaroids are authentic. Gen Z and millennials value authenticity in a brand. Polaroids are all about nostalgia and nostalgia is a very powerful emotion.”
The likes of Ansel Adams and Andy Warhol both produced memorable images with Polaroid cameras. I’ll bet you still have a few of your own in a dust-covered photo album. I know I do.
At SGD, we know that old becomes new with the passage of time. What doesn’t change is authenticity. The work we do with senior living communities taps into nostalgia, but with a purpose. The culture of a senior living community is also the heart of its value proposition. We communicate this culture through websites, videos and blog posts like this one.
SGD is a San Francisco Bay Area advertising, marketing and branding agency specializing in the senior and boomer markets. We’ve successfully positioned, branded and rebranded hearing aid manufacturers, weaving traditional and online tactics to create compelling stories that drive response.
About the Author Gil Zeimer is a Creative Director / Copywriter at SGD Advertising specializing in senior / boomer, healthcare, lifestyle, financial, travel / leisure and technology brands since 1984.
