🧊 Blue Gatorade Frost

Why The Cheapest Everyday Items Have the Most Emotional Meaning — Plus, Highlights from My 30-Minute Sitdown with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev

Author

Katie Perry
May 03, 2025

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The Big Story: Why the Cheapest Things Have the Most Meaning

It hit 83 degrees in New York yesterday, and it was the kind of day where you walk outside, sit on a bench, and let the sun hit your face for a few minutes. 

So there I was, listening to yacht rock during a 20-minute respite between meetings, and boom. It hit me. I NEEDED to find a blue Gatorade Frost.

I walked into one bodega: Lots of energy drinks, including a Skittles-flavored C4 that I mentally bookmarked to try later “for the bit,” a few Gatorade flavors, but no Frost. Since it’s New York, I strolled approximately 150 feet to a second location, and there she was in all her glory.

I’ve had this same urge every late spring for years, and it’s because warm weather reminds me of playing soccer tournaments as a kid, which were some of my favorite memories. It was the early 2000s, and my blood type was — you guessed it — blue Gatorade Frost.

Lately, I’ve been fascinated by the impact and endurance of these cheap, everyday brands we grew up with. Everyone has their own examples, and beyond Frost, mine are: Werther’s Originals (my grandma always had these), Pine Sol (smells like my childhood home), and OFF! Bug Spray (I grew up on a 23-acre plot of land, half of which was a literal forest).

Home!

It’s crazy to think that these under $5 items (pre-inflation!) carry more emotional value to me than nicer things I’ve invested in. Which then made me think about how some of these brands have been able to withstand the test of time, some for 100+ years, despite insane competition, direct-to-consumer, TikTok-charged upstarts, and every celebrity now having their own product line. 

I was curious if anyone smarter than me has looked into this, and behold! They have. Here’s what I was able to dig up, as I sip what’s left of my warm, day-old blue Gatorade Frost.

What I found is that these everyday brands aren’t just familiar; they’re emotionally embedded. Like, deep in our subconscious. There’s an entire field of academic research dedicated to consumer nostalgia, and it turns out it’s not just a vibe. It’s a legitimate psychological mechanism.

One of the more seminal studies on this found that the brands, songs, and products we encounter during adolescence and early adulthood hit us harder — and stay with us longer — because those years are basically our emotional wet cement. That’s why blue Gatorade Frost doesn’t just taste good; it tastes like then. That’s also why brands that show up early tend to earn irrational levels of loyalty later.

Researchers have even found that nostalgia makes us spend more. In one study, participants who were shown nostalgic images (like childhood cartoons) were significantly more willing to part with their money afterward.

Why? Because nostalgia increases our sense of social connectedness and lowers our attachment to money. It literally makes us more generous! When something reminds you of a grandparent, a simpler time, or even a defunct mall food court, you’re not just buying the item — you’re buying a feeling.

And marketers (like me) know it. Legacy CPG brands like Gatorade, Coca-Cola, Campbell’s, and Werther’s have codified nostalgia into their playbooks. It’s why Gatorade recently brought back its iconic “Is It In You?” campaign — complete with 90s visuals and a Michael Jordan cameo. They’re not just selling hydration; they’re selling history. Even the fonts and color palettes are engineered to ping our internal time machines.

But here’s the interesting part: nostalgia isn’t just about the past. Branding expert David Aaker, who wrote an entire book on brand equity, emphasizes that brand heritage only works when it’s coupled with present-day relevance. It’s not enough to be the brand your parents loved — you also have to be the brand you want to use now. The reassurance of the old only hits if it feels like it still belongs in the current moment.

Which brings us to the newcomers. Since they can’t trade on actual history, new brands often lean into a kind of manufactured nostalgia. Think Olipop — those vintage soda fonts and pastel cans are designed to feel like something your cool aunt had in her fridge in 1983, even if you were born in 1995. 

And it’s working: a 2023 Kantar study found that 74% of Gen Z consumers appreciate when brands tap into retro vibes, even if they didn’t live through the era. Turns out, you don’t need lived memory, just enough cultural memory to spark a feeling.

So, it makes sense that those $5 items we’re emotionally glued to are somewhat sacred. And whether they’re tugging at actual memories or just mimicking them, that emotional resonance is what helps them endure — through TikTok trends, celebrity brands, and whatever candy-flavored energy drink the kids are onto next.

Highlights from My Stocktwits Q&A with Robinhood Co-Founder and CEO Vlad Tenev

Last night, I had the opportunity to sit down with Robinhood’s co-founder and CEO, Vlad Tenev. The company just reported its Q1 2025 earnings earlier in the week, and I was eager to get inside the brain of someone who has emerged as one of the most influential people in finance. $HOOD ( â–˛ 4.23% )  

Not surprisingly, it was a fascinating conversation, and we touched on a lot of topics that signaled where Vlad and team’s heads are at as they build what they essentially hope will become the Amazon of money and ownership.

Some of the highlights:

  • Gold is the New Prime: Robinhood Gold, their $5 membership product, has been on an absolute tear, doubling in subscribers year-over-year. Vlad said that initially, people told him a subscription model doesn’t work in finance, but his vision is to use the $5 price point to make great products more accessible to more people. We also touched on the execution of these roll-outs, which are always excellent, and I asked if there would soon be a day when we could see a Robinhood Gold airport lounge. He thinks Gold can be bigger than the status programs of Amex and Delta.

  • AI’s Impact: Earlier this week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he estimates that 25% to 30% of their code is written by AI. I asked Vlad about the breakout over at Robinhood, and he said he would not be surprised if it was higher than that!

  • Self-Directed Agentic AI — Coming Soon? The part of the conversation that fascinated me the most was our conversation on how agentic AI — or the ability to build custom workflows and automated ways of transacting and acquiring assets — was something on his mind. He indicated that their Cortext product could become much bigger than simply being a research co-pilot. Imagine a world where the product knows your financial circumstances, risk appetite, and preferences, and can also combine with deep research and real-time data about the markets to make decisions on your behalf. Really, really cool stuff.

Now Here’s a Chart

New data from B2B banking service Ramp shows a significant slowdown in advertising spending across its large business customers.

As Ramp’s co-founder put it: “April spend data showed 54% froze or cut budgets with retail leading at 61%. A similar pullback is reflected in TV ads, as with Meta and Google, too (conflicting with reporting to date). The trend is clear: folks are bracing for impact.”

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Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.