Why Gen Z Is Obsessed with 90s Nostalgia… And Craving Tradition

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]If you grew up in the '80s and '90s, like [music] I did, you're probably feeling a little bit nostalgic right now.

[00:00:04]>> When I can hook up your office computers to your home computers. So, from now on, if you want to, you can work at home.

[00:00:12]>> This is perfect.

[00:00:14]>> I came across something, a retro Pizza Hut, that a guy has revamped and turned back into the Pizza Hut that I actually grew up with. You've probably noticed that a lot of these restaurants have rebranded to be more modern and relevant. You kind of miss those cultural moments where we would actually go places together as a family, or with some friends, and hang out at the mall.

[00:00:35]Pizza Hut was one of those things that was really special to me growing up.

[00:00:39]Parents loved the idea of taking their kids to one of these restaurants, that they could have fun and play and eat.

[00:00:44]We're going to get into why this actually ties into religion.

[00:00:48]>> Inside, the vinyl booths, Tiffany-style lamps, and yes, the salad bar you may remember from decades ago.

[00:00:55]>> I mean, it's amazing the comments about >> They have the red cups.

[00:00:59]>> Yeah.

[00:01:00]>> Yes, we do.

[00:01:01]>> They've redecorated restaurants to rewind the clock.

[00:01:04]>> It looks exactly like the one that I remember from when I was a kid.

[00:01:08]>> Customers show up for a piece of their childhood.

[00:01:11]>> It just brings back memories.

[00:01:12]>> To share with their own kids.

[00:01:13]>> People come from two and three hours away, and I'm not making that up.

[00:01:16]>> More restaurants are serving up nostalgia. At Pizza Hut, they even brought back Pac-Man. It's a mission to rebuild places where families can connect.

[00:01:26]>> If we can get them in here as a family, they do tend to put their phones down, and actually have conversations and speak with each other. I can't tell you I know how to fix the world, but I do think that family is a good place to start.

[00:01:37]>> Something that's been standing out to me a lot, especially on social media, is Gen Z's obsession with wanting to go back to the analog times, maybe before social media, even before the internet.

[00:01:50]I've seen a lot of nostalgia stuff popping up. I've even seen people who are embracing the retro look. And there's these brothers here who use with crop tops and stuff. Very encouraging to see the younger generation embrace things that are like 30 years old. And it was just a simpler time and lately I've been very nostalgic for that. Since I've become Catholic, I've really noticed that Catholicism is so traditional, a lot more than some of the Protestant denominations, especially in the Evangelical non-denominational spaces where it seems like they're trying really hard to be relevant and hip with the flashing lights and fog machines and cool music, the skinny jean. Just feels like they're really trying to appeal to the younger crowd and they might be missing the mark here.

[00:02:34]Reason we're seeing so many headlines talking about Gen Z becoming Catholic is because I think this generation is seeing security in the past where it was a simpler time, where it did feel like the future was more promising than it is today. And let's just face it, the world today feels very unstable. Catholicism, it comes back to tradition. I think people want to embrace faith and Christianity. There's something to be said about tradition because it works, right? I mean, Catholicism's been around for 2,000 years. Seeing this Pizza Hut thing, as silly as it sounds, I was saying, "You know what? I guarantee you, if I had the money to do it, if you could like revamp some of these old '80s, '90s food chains, I guarantee you people would go there just to experience the nostalgia of it. Turn it back into the Taco Bell where like these were the colors, you know, like purple, pink, turquoise and like these jackety designs. Now, I'm going to tell you the reason I'm wearing this jacket is because I bought this when I was in Europe, in Amsterdam at like this little cafe we went to. This is an Adidas jacket, like that parachute material.

[00:03:35]Things just really remind me of my childhood and maybe when you're like middle-aged, you start getting nostalgic for your childhood because those are like fond memories that you had. I think the Catholic Church has something that no other Christian faith has. You can't I Catholicism a denomination because it's original Christianity. I think they're seeing like a new wave of popularity, maybe. And what I think is great about that is that Catholicism really encourages people to have families. You know, when I go to mass, I see families with like five or six kids.

[00:04:06]Eventually, we're going to be gone and all that's going to remain are Gen Z, Gen Alpha. If they're not having families, then they're going to be gone.

[00:04:15]And the only ones that are going to be left are going to be the ones who are embracing tradition, embracing having families. So, they're the ones who are going to be continuing to populate society. Embracing some of these old things is kind of catching on. I really hope that these Pizza Hut restaurants continue to pop up.

[00:04:32]>> Cheese lovers plus pizza. Any two toppings and three luscious cheeses.

[00:04:36]>> Some more retro stuff, people embracing tradition. Seems like it was a more fun time, a lot more carefree.

[00:04:43]>> [music] [singing] >> If you're thinking about Christianity, and maybe you're kind of wanting faith, life just feels kind of bleak and hopeless. Christians are statistically happier people because we're focused more on what's to come next. We're not so focused on right now. Truthfully, the future will be a lot more Christian than it is right now. I want to know what you think. Do you feel nostalgic? Did you grow up in the '80s, '90s? When did you grow up? Is my era, Gen X, millennial, xennial? Yeah, all these things are coming back. Are the younger generation if you're watching this, keep doing that. I think it's super cool. It makes, I guess, middle-aged people like me happy.

[00:05:28]>> [music] >> Now you can enjoy the flavor Ireland is famous for, one freshly brewed cup at a time, with Folgers [music] Irish Cream Gourmet Coffee Singles. Rich coffee with a smooth touch of Irish cream.

[00:05:43]Savor it.

[00:05:44]>> I'll see you guys next time.

[00:05:48]>> [music]