While at a mall with a friend, we wandered into a Bloomingdale’s, and something struck me as odd. Plastered along the escalator and on signage throughout the store was Mario of Super Mario fame. My first thought was that it was hat your typical Bloomingdale shopper would not recognize Bowser’s nemesis, making it an odd choice for an ad campaign. Then two other thoughts popped into my head – perhaps this was Bloomingdale’s attempt to get a younger audience shopping with them. Or more unsettling, at my age, I have become the target demographic.

Bloomingdale’s is a department store chain founded in 1872. Currently owned by Macy’s, it aims to be a more upscale chain for its parent company. Management attempted to expand the brand overseas, with a landmark store in the Dubai Mall, though international plans have not moved beyond that. Bloomingdale’s also sought to develop across the United States. Then the financial crisis of 2008/2009 happened. Throw in what many are calling the retail apocalypse, and a lot of Bloomingdale’s plans went out the window. These events led to closings of several stores across the country, including their 99,000 square foot store in Las Vegas.

First coined by financial analysts, the “Retail Apocalypse” is a term that I see popping up more and more. It attempts to explain the misfortunes of brick and mortar retailers and the demise of malls across America. The causes for this decline are varied, but they join forces to create a perfect storm. There is the rise of giant internet commerce giants like Amazon, and their ability to offer prices traditional stores cannot hope to match. There is the birth of concepts like the Apple store, where the experience is fundamental, selling seems like an afterthought. The financial crisis of 2009 and the subsequent wage stagnation badly hurt the middle class.  The loyal customer base of brick and mortar stores are aging, with department stores like Bloomingdale’s suffering the worst. Millennials prefer to shop online or at fast fashion retail outlets like Uniqlo or Zara. With private equity firms saddling these retailers with mountains of debt, you have a lot of things going wrong and not a lot of simple answers.  

I think this is Mario. Or maybe its Sonic the Hedgehog. Whatever.

Now we return to our spunky Italian plumber lending a hand to Bloomingdale’s. The choice of Super Mario World, first released on the Super Nintendo (SNES) in 1990, is a good choice. Unlike his previous appearance, 16-bit SNES Mario has a fidelity that holds up when blown up on banners while keeping that nostalgic charm. The other graphical landmark for Mario, Mario 64, suffers from chunky, low-resolution polygons. The game was revolutionary when it came out, but the graphics do not hold up nearly as well. The people running Bloomingdale’s ad campaign probably selected Super Mario World because it maximizes nostalgia. If you are in your late 20’s or 30’s, that is the Mario that you remember.

Nostalgia marketing is nothing new. It is human tendency to look back at our childhood through rose-tinted glasses. Nostalgic images and classic songs are a great way to make us think positively about a brand that has nothing to do with those memories. No, it does not seem like a compelling argument, but we are often far less rational than we think we are, something advertisers have exploited throughout history.

What is different is video games, nerd culture, and general geekiness have become part of our cultural zeitgeist. Revenge of the Nerds is less a cry against bullying than a reality of how the world works. The Mario series has sold millions of copies, and Mario, his supporting cast, and the theme song are recognizable even to people who never played the game. Or at least, it is recognizable to the demographic that Bloomingdale’s is trying to capture.

I am still not sure if its desperation, savvy nostalgia marketing, or both. There was very little actual Mario merchandise for sale, and what was available was ludicrously overpriced variants of what you can find on Amazon disguised as haute couture. Is it to appeal to old folks like me (OK, other older people with an actual sense of fashion)? To demonstrate that I am still hip with things?  Or is Mario there to appeal to younger millennials in a vintage hipster style? Being a gamer is common these days, and there is not the social stigma it had in the 1980’s or 1990’s. A Mario t-shirt is not some powerful counter-cultural statement.  

On the other hand, the whole ad campaign has me thinking about Bloomingdale’s, something I have not done in years. If someone as fashion blind and oblivious as I am notices the ads, it is already more successful than the hundreds of other ads I blithely ignore each day. That is already a massive improvement for Bloomingdale’s. The big question for them is whether they can translate warm fuzzy feelings into cold, hard cash.