Because I am such a sports fanatic, many of my examples come from the sports world and uniforms.

Another great example from the food industry are Oreos. Nabisco colors the filling orange for Halloween and then red for the holidays. My kids swear they taste better…but in reality it's the exact same product. My guess is they see an uptick in sales when they change the colors.

Pepper Ph.D. does various can designs and I gobble them up because I already like the brand.

I'm not sure that effecting design change in a product I loathe would affect me one way or the other. I know it wouldn't make me want to buy the 'bad' product, but I don't even think it makes me soften at all.

I don't like Burger King and having the retro burger look didn't work for me. But when McDonald's does it, I squeal like a school girl and can actually remember the taste of Big Mac in my mouth. Then I sing the jingle (two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun) and remote start the car.

What does this say? Am I typical? I'm not sure. As an ad copywriter for decades, I had believed I was empathetic with prospective buyers. But maybe I'm just as wonky as the rest of the consumers and THAT's the only throwback constant that matters.

Good post.