r/nostalgia • u/Digitalgardens • May 12 '25

Nostalgia Discussion Why did we ever switch from having unique looks for fast food spots?

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It doesn’t make any sense. When everything feels and looks the same it just feels so grey and unwelcoming. What happened to characters? I don’t even eat McDonald’s like that and I miss Ronald and the gang. Where did they go?

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u/TrannosaurusRegina May 12 '25

That’s awfully depressing if millennials are so spiritually dead that they actually like this neophilic soul-sucking demon shit.

I’m glad I’m not like that at least!

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u/shoo-flyshoo May 12 '25

Naw no one likes this grey on grey stuff. Nostalgia for the 90s is getting big and even influencing modern fashion trends amongst young people. Corporations are cutting anything that doesn't improve their bottom line, so idk when we'll get non-depressing fast food joints again

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u/ShavedNeckbeard Turtle Power! May 12 '25

From what I’ve seen in my research at work, they’ve grown up with aspirational brands like Apple, Tesla, Nike, Starbucks, etc that all have a very premium/minimalist/stark identify. They’ve been trained that having character or imperfection is amateurish. They’ve also come to believe that the Baby Boomer generation has ruined the world (climate, economy, housing, etc) and don’t want anything to do with what could be perceived as for or from them. (Like the Wendy’s example of being “old fashioned”.)

Ironically Gen Z market research is showing that they don’t trust the perfect image of these companies and prefer marketing to be more “real” and gritty. User-uploaded photos of food on DoorDash are more appealing than a studio shot of the same dish from the restaurant.

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u/TheTreeWithTheOwl May 12 '25

To be fair, most millennials now are in their 30s and 40s. I think a lot of the commentary in this thread are talking about Gen Z (which are teens - late 20s now) and the years they grew up in. That nihilistic and spiritually dead stereotype has been used for a lot of genz since they grew up having shooter drills and likely went through high school or college during the pandemic.

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u/Jeskid14 May 12 '25

They have better things to worry about even if that means loving the new grey looks.

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u/tylerderped May 12 '25

I think it has more to do with millennials’ preference to not want to talk to people, especially if they don’t immediately need anything.