Brands like Bubble and Panera Bread are tapping Y2K-era celebrities for new campaigns
Nostalgia for the 2000s is going strong, and brands are calling on celebrities who made their names in that era to star in their campaigns.
This year, Lindsay Lohan partnered with Old Navy for the brand’s “Old Navy, New Moves” campaign to promote its activewear line. In July, Lohan was also announced as the latest brand ambassador of hair-care brand Schwarzkopf, in time for the arrival of “Freakier Friday” in theaters. Last month, Y2K pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne partnered with Banshee Wine for the launch of her first wine, named after her hit “Complicated.” Meanwhile, “Gilmore Girls” is celebrating its 25th anniversary through a bunch of collaborations that include Vera Bradley, Walgreens and Panera Bread.
The trend is being fueled by retail brands of all sizes tapping into both millennials’ and Gen Z’s nostalgia for the Y2K era. Marketers say there is a reason why these cultural moments have stuck in the past few years: It’s that embracing entertainment and trends from the 2000s gives people a momentary retreat from the chaos of current events.
“Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester is one celebrity who has become a popular brand partner over the past year; last month, Bubble Skincare named the actress and singer as its first-ever global ambassador.
Bubble founder Shai Eisenman told Modern Retail that the 360-degree campaign was the brand’s first and served to celebrate the brand’s five-year anniversary this November. Until now, Bubble has grown incrementally through its own marketing channels and retail expansion. “It felt like the perfect timing to do something this big through our own lens,” Eisenman said. “Bringing some joy to the world and making people smile is not a bad idea right now.”
The campaign, titled “Radical Joy,” will have a retail presence, with the marketing creatives making their way into stores. “We are also doing out-of-home, paid digital ads and a lot of retail activations,” Eisenman said.
When it came time to search for a global brand ambassador, Eisenman said the Bubble team wanted a partner who would be relevant to its young audience and to new consumers who may not have heard of the brand.
“We have a community of 93,000 ambassadors who are the heart and soul of the brand,” Eisenman said. They have been a part of the brand’s strategy since its inception, even helping to choose the name Bubble and the packaging. Through feedback from the Bubble community, Eisenman said, “We learned something really interesting: Every person of a certain age watched ‘Gossip Girl’ at least once, often twice, and sometimes even five times.”
Many Bubble fans also voiced their love for the teen drama’s star, Eisenman said, adding, “They see Leighton as such an icon.” Meester was sent Bubble to try, loved the products and agreed to come on board as a spokesperson. “We see having somebody like Leighton talking about the products as a great stamp of approval,” Eisenman said. “She is a sign of quality and premium, while also being down to earth and relatable.”
Meester is also having a major month in the public eye, appearing on the second season of Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This” later this month. Last week, Meester was also announced as the new star of Godiva’s campaign for its new Masterpiece Collection, where she plays a real-life Lady Godiva.
This fall has proven to be a popular time for “Gilmore Girls”-themed campaigns. Panera Bread’s new autumn-themed ad stars the boyfriends of “Gilmore Girls,” played by Jared Padalecki and Matt Czuchry. The two promote the chain’s new Fall for Your Favorites menu, which includes the return of fan favorites like Hearty Fireside Chili and Black Bean Soup. At the same time, they make references to fans often rewatching the show during the fall. The company reiterated the sentiment in its press releases of the campaign, with statements like, “Much like a warm bowl of soup, nostalgic TV marathons are a cherished hallmark of fall.”
Sunny Bonnell, founder and CEO of branding agency Motto, said there is a particular kind of comfort that lives in a time capsule. “Lately, brands have been cracking that capsule open,” Bonnell said. The resurgence of Y2K-era celebrities in today’s campaigns is somewhat of a cultural recalibration.
“We’re in an age where trust is fractured, attention is scattered and brands are scrambling to rise above the noise,” Bonnell said. In moments like these, people reach back in time out of longing. It has a lot to do with taking people back to a pre-social media world that was dominated by monoculture. “Lohan is a symbol of a simpler time, before social media altered our sense of self, before adulthood felt so weighty,” Bonnell said. “These figures offer a shorthand to familiarity.”
But nostalgia on its own isn’t enough, Bonnell said. What’s different now is how these Y2K icons are being recontextualized as symbols who’ve endured, evolved and earned new relevance.
“Leighton Meester for Bubble and Godiva isn’t just Blair Waldorf in 2007,” Bonnell said. She’s a signal to an audience that grew up with her, and is now navigating adulthood with skin care routines and refined taste. “The nostalgia works because the transformation is real,” she said.
Meanwhile, companies like Panera and Walgreens, celebrating “Gilmore Girls’” longevity, echo the show’s cozy vibes, which are being discovered by younger generations. In September, Walgreens released an exclusive Stars Hollow-inspired collection, featuring Luke’s Diner-branded merch like oven mitts, towels and mugs. “This trend also points to a deeper truth about consumer psychology,” Bonnell said. “When the present feels volatile, the past becomes a source of identity.”
For Bubble, the fan reaction shows Meester was the right choice. “The reaction to the campaign has been nothing but incredibly positive so far,” Eisenman said, as shown by the comments on the brand’s pages. “It has gotten about 5 million views just on social.”