SAN BERNARDINO, CA - Nostalgia is irrational and beautiful. It is a variable that has completely ensconced the millennial market in a footprint of revivals, throwbacks, and second acts. I am no exception, brought to the foreground of my mind by a recent post from Stater Bros.
As the retailer continues to celebrate its 90th year, the team shared a commercial from 1986, when Jack Brown, late Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Chairman for the company, launched a television campaign to celebrate its teammates. As what I can only describe as a farmer-aesthetic truck barrels down a dirt road to a country jingle singing of “the heartland of California,” I felt that indescribable emotional tug.
Fun fact: I was born in San Bernardino, where Stater Bros. is based. There are items the company stocked that my grandmother was convinced could not be bought anywhere else—she used to ship them to us when my family made the "controversial" move up to the Central Valley because we didn’t have a Stater Bros. nearby. And when we came back to visit, she always ensured we made a trip.
It is a bond that ties me intrinsically to the brand, one story of many, I have no doubt. And I know this because as soon as that heartland tune blasted from my speakers, my husband—who also grew up in Southern California—quickly said, “Wait, I know that…”
Not bad for a campaign that is 40 years old.
Cheers, Stater Bros., and congratulations on 90 years!
