Brands continue to look to the 1990s to connect with millennial consumers around the looks, icons, jingles and even prices from that halcyon decade. And as potent as “remember when you were young” can be, what’s more thumb-stopping than “remember: you’re getting old”?

That twist on nostalgia is at the core of “Neutrogena Remembers,” a campaign from the Kenvue beauty brand created with agency BBDO New York. The effort tells consumers that if they remember specific moments and memories from the ‘90s, then it may be time to use its Rapid Wrinkle Repair Cream and newly launched Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum products.

Neutrogena didn’t want to be just another brand jumping on the nostalgia train, stoking emotional responses in consumers and nostalgia-washing their campaign, explained Alex Booker, executive creative director at BBDO New York.

“What we wanted to do was lure people in with that nostalgic thing that we know they love… that little trip down memory lane, but then doing that rug pull… [using] it as that trigger to remind you that you're actually a little older than you think you may be,” Booker said.

The campaign’s hero film begins with an iconic moment from ‘90s show “Beverly Hills, 90210” when Donna (Tori Spelling) asked David (Brian Austin Green) to marry her, before turning the camera to reveal a board-certified dermatologist who brings viewers back down to earth: “If you remember rooting for Donna and David, it may be time to start using Neutrogena Retinol Regenerating Cream.”

Additional spots use the same “if you remember” framework around other items, including landlines, teen magazines and inflatable furniture, in rooms styled to look and feel decade-specific by director Maris Jones, a social media favorite who has worked with musician Chappell Roan and does everything from filming and editing to music and sound design.

“We wanted to work with someone that can authentically recreate those worlds with that audience and does it with an amazing bent on style,” Booker said. “She really transports you into those worlds.”

A return to relevancy

For Neutrogena, the campaign is a way to build relevancy with a modern beauty audience that has flocked to social media platforms like TikTok, where skincare-centered #SkinTok has racked up more than 4 billion posts, explained Chris Riat, vice president and global Neutrogena brand leader at Kenvue.

“We have a big history of merging beauty and science together, but we have been a bit disconnected from culture for some time,” Riat said. “Today, beauty is really a culture. It's a community, it's extremely social, and for us, it's super important that we connect with our consumers where they are.”

Neutrogena sought to bring new energy to the wrinkle repair products and deliver a message that is pro-aging. To do so, BBDO keyed in on nostalgia as a hook — noting the interest in ‘90s meme pages and other throwback content — before delivering the campaign’s real message to a target audience that is starting to see the gray hairs and eye wrinkles of aging.

“How do we use [aging] in a really fun way to give people that little bit of a push toward the brand? Obviously, it has to be done very delicately,” Booker said. “You can't just get out there and call people old and hit them with that truth bomb.”

To come up with the familiar bits of nostalgia that could soften the blow, BBDO’s team relived the ‘90s, literally for the half of the team that grew up during the decade and vicariously for the folks born after it. The team wanted memorable items that were Proustian without being “bleedingly obvious.” 

“The teen magazine and the butterfly clips link us back into the beauty space, which is so important for us as a brand,” Booker said. “Some of the others sit on the peripheral, but we use them as those triggers to take you back into a time.”

Neutrogena sees potential in the campaign to grow as a platform by observing how consumers engage with the effort in their social feeds and looking for other touchpoints that are resonant. As examples, Booker suggests possibly disrupting ‘90s playlists on Spotify or activating around shopping malls.

“That's what we're going to be looking for throughout the year,” the executive explained. “Finding those ways to disrupt people, give them that little ‘90s nugget that they're looking for, and then you have an opportunity for Neutrogena.”