Dive Brief:

• Walmart is jumping on the Y2K nostalgia trend with a touring experience that tries to transport customers back to their childhoods, according to a blog post. 
• Called Walmart’s Summer Rewind, the roving activation will appear in store parking lots in 33 cities around the U.S. starting Aug. 18, with Austin, Texas, the first stop. The free experience, which is available to attend via RSVP, includes a Walmart ball cage, freezer speakeasy and life-sized toy boxes to snap photos.
• The nostalgia-themed play builds on a recent run of experiential marketing from the big-box retailer that included movie drive-ins during the pandemic. 

Dive Insight:

Walmart is tapping into the current craze around everything ‘90s and early aughts, a trend that reflects how Gen Z has matured into young adults now pining for their childhoods. Summer Rewind, billed as a “playground for grown-ups,” seeks to bring consumers back to more innocent times while enabling them to do things they were forbidden from growing up, like climbing into a freezer in the frozen food aisle or diving into the retailer’s caged ball pits. 

Beyond the broad Y2K nostalgia strokes, the concept allows Walmart to jump on the current zeitgeist. Promotional materials showcase a life-sized Barbie box that visitors can stand in to take pictures, with flash photography encouraged. The installation comes as this summer’s film adaptation of the iconic Mattel toy recently surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, enshrining it as a pop culture phenomenon.

Summer Rewind is free to attend and available to book via RSVP on Walmart’s website. Visitors will be greeted by an oversized version of Walmart’s old Smiley symbol, which the company has dubbed the “OG emoji.” Along with the ball cages, photo stations and freezer speakeasy serving chilled treats, the activation also features a giant Lite Brite, painting station and vending machines that offer the chance to take home prizes.

Walmart’s strategy could attract more store foot traffic in the dog days of summer, a typically slow time for businesses. The news is indicative of how experiential marketing, a tactic that gravitates toward Instagram-worthy activations, has seen a strong bounce back in the post-pandemic period.

Other marketers have leaned into growing consumer fondness for the early 2000s, an era that was once maligned as a cultural dead zone. Pop-Tarts last month resurrected brand characters that first appeared in the opening leg of the decade. Paris Hilton, the banner child for Y2K influencers, has recently popped up in campaigns for brands including Taco Bell and fintech firm Klarna.