In Man United’s recent kit launch ad, Barry Keoghan romantically muses a love letter to football from The Cliff, the club’s legendary training ground, to the rhythmic beat of Underworld’s 90s classic Born Slippy. Cue an army of Red Devils wearing their nostalgic hearts on their sleeves as they praised the creators for delivering a throwback that evokes an era when the club was unstoppable under Sir Alex Ferguson’s stewardship.

The 90s, an era the UK looks favourably upon for its thriving culture, have weaved their way back into advertising recently. McDonald’s took a trip down memory lane when it disrupted the ad break with a Teletext ad, Channel 4 plastered 90s rave-style flyers and posters in phone booths and streetlights to promote its Partygate docudrama, and EE utilised Faithless to draw millennial viewers to its major relaunch.

One could argue it’s because creative leaders who lived through the 90s are now calling the shots, or that those who experienced the decade first time around are the target audience. Gen Z are also seemingly nostalgic for a time they didn’t live in but envy its perceived freedoms, and whenever bad times fall, people naturally look back with rose-tinted glasses. But maybe there’s more to it; creatives are looking to the 90s to inspire the creative industries forward after recent stagnation.