Nostalgic cartoon characters fuel retailers in recession

Industry

Published: 10 Feb. 2023, 18:44 Updated: 10 Feb. 2023, 18:54

Nostalgic cartoon characters fuel retailers in recession

Poster of The 'First Slam Dunk' [SMG HOLDINGS]

From bold red wine to glittering pink heels, nostalgia marketing is sweeping the retail market with beloved childhood cartoons.

The recent box office success of "The First Slam Dunk," the anime adaptation of the popular Japanese sports manga "Slam Dunk," which has drawn over 2 million viewers since its release on Jan. 4, also contributed to this marketing trend.

Slam Dunk, which was serialized in the 1990s, is nostalgic for people in their 30s and 40s as it was popular during their youth.

Customers look around a Slam Dunk pop-up store at The Hyundai Seoul in western Seoul on Jan. 26.[YONHAP]

The Hyundai Seoul opened a pop-up store for Slam Dunk fans for 13 days starting on Jan. 26 in Yeouido, western Seoul, attracting more than 18,000 people during the period.

It sold many limited-run products inspired by the anime, such as basketball jerseys with the names of characters printed on the back and character figurines, generating an average of 100 million won ($79,000) sales per day.

7-Eleven, a convenience store chain, started selling 2,000 newly re-edited sets of the Slam Dunk manga series — first published in 1992 — in pre-orders Friday.

Slam Dunk wine [7-ELEVEN]

It also started importing California-produced Slam Dunk wine from Feb. 1.

The wine isn’t directly related to the Japanese anime series. Rather, the wine was designed to accentuate every “slam dunk” moment, hence the name.

The seven basketballs drawn on the orange label of the bottle is reminiscent of the comic book, though.

"Eighty percent of wine buyers are men in their 30s and 40s, who are likely to have purchasing power," said Kim Seong-cheol, a spokesperson for Korea Seven, which operates 7-Eleven.

“Trends in Korea have been led by young people in their 20s and 30s, but the recent release of 'The First Slam Dunk' stirred nostalgia from people in their 30s and 40s, who had been hidden in the background, thrusting them forward as trend setters,” Kim added.

The retail and fashion markets are typically very sensitive to trends. Yet there are many pessimists predicting consumer sentiment to shrink this year due to high interest rates and inflation.

In a report released last month, Samsung Fashion Institute used the term “dopamine business” to predict this year's fashion market.

Like the mood-lifting hormone, the institute said fashion businesses can survive only when they provide pleasure to customers with their products, store atmosphere and other services.

Consumer sentiment explodes with the advent of characters from childhood cartoons because they hit a nostalgic sweet spot.

Knee-high pink boots from Jimmy Choo's 'Sailor Moon' collection [JIMMY CHOO]

Sailor Moon, an iconic manga series also first published in 1992, recently collaborated with British luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo to unveil a selection of boots, heels and pumps.

It was a collaboration made in honor of the beloved series' 30th anniversary. The pink knee-high boots mirror Sailor Moon's signature footwear — topped with a crescent jewel and covered entirely in Swarovski crystals.

MSCHF’s Astro Boy-inspired big red boots [MSCHF]

Another fashion item at the center of social media engagement is the Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF’s pair of big red boots that look as if they've come straight from the anime character Astro Boy’s wardrobe. Photos of models wearing the sleek, rubbery red boots have already been the subject of numerous posts on social media.

The Slam Dunk boys, Sailor Moon and Astro Boy are all nostalgic characters that touch the heartstrings of Millennials and Gen Z, who spent their childhood in the 1990s.

The latest retail market strategy is to stimulate consumer sentiment by introducing characters that can captivate Millennials and Gen Z, who have emerged as major consumers.

Reinterpreting hit content from the past is also a safe choice for companies and fashion brands.

Since such content is already familiar to the public, companies and brands needn't take unnecessary risks. This is also why economic downturns bring retro booms.

"It's not that characters from the past grow more popular because of recessions, but people open their wallets to characters from the past even during recessions,” said Jeon Mi-young, a researcher at Seoul National University's Consumption Trend Center.

“It is a consumer sentiment that gives value to subjective utility, such as the comfort from recalling your childhood through characters."

BY YOO JI-YOEN, SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]