“The good old days,” “back when,” or “back in my day,” are the usual phrases employed when venturing down the road of nostalgia. As new technology is created, there comes with it the thought of simpler times. When it comes to movies, we can click a thumbnail to watch a highly acclaimed blockbuster from last summer or an 80s horror classic.
What’s missing from this ease in consumerism is the experience once carried with it. In a video essay by Entertain The Elk, they revisit the glory years of going to the video store and browsing the VHS horror aisle. What made the artwork on those tapes so effective? The AIDA method — Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action — of advertising.
The first part of AIDA, attention, is accomplished with a uniqueness that draws consumers in. The video essay uses the example of John Carpenter‘s “Halloween.” Not only a groundbreaking film spawning sequels and inspiring the slash genre, “Halloween” used the attention method, drawing consumers into the bright orange color and the jack-o-lantern – something familiar – being turned into a knife.
The final three tasks are broken down by: interest (the way horror and its artwork subvert expectation); desire (by way of reviews and pushing the limits of social acceptance); and finally, a call to action such as, “You have to see it to believe it.” Whether you roamed Family Video or Blockbuster, getting lost in the aisles of films was part of the adventure of renting and watching a movie; part of the cinematic experience.
Check out the video essay, and share some of the memorable titles you rented back in the day.