Social media users are using AI to imagine what they would have looked like in the 1980s. Their images recreate the decade’s hairstyles, outfits, and photographic style, turning present-day portraits into pictures resembling old family photographs.

Products and familiar brand characters are also appearing in retro settings, with neon colours, big hair, and vintage clothing. Brands including Maggi and Cadbury have adapted the look for their social media posts.

Rather than simply sharing old advertisements or archive photographs, this approach creates imagined versions of the past. Today’s products and characters are placed in scenes inspired by another decade. The result is a shared content format, with users and brands applying similar visual ideas to different subjects.