Marketing lessons from ’90s ad campaigns

Culturally, the ’90s were a strange time—and it was reflected in the decade’s marketing efforts.

Though many of the ads seem puzzling in retrospect, looking back at two of the most quintessential 90s marketing campaigns can reveal several lessons for today’s marketing pros:

The Slim Jim Guy: Stick with your brand’s identity

I hadn’t paid attention to Slim Jim’s marketing efforts in quite some time. To me, it was a mostly forgotten piece of childhood nostalgia.

Without the Slim Jim Guy constantly barraging my senses during commercial breaks—with such innovative catchphrases as, “Eat me!”—or popping up through cross-promotions in video games, I had no reason to store the information in my brain.

After remembering this dark part of my childhood, I checked in on Slim Jim to see what its marketing team is up to. Surely they have completely abandoned the old brand identity and adapted to current times, right?

Not so much.