I’m sure we can all agree nostalgia is a powerful thing. It’s what has so many thirty something hip-hop fans pining for the glory days of the 90s, yearning for the past in its idealized form. You know, a time when creativity, if not the genre as a whole, was at its pinnacle. A time before T-Pain and all his blasted auto-tune became the norm (notwithstanding his work with the Blizzard Man of course).

Candy Corn is actually an idea that Ricky Van Veen, co-founder of College Humor, coined…and now in true interweb fashion I’m stealing it and making it mine! (insert evil voice: Muwahahahaaa, ha…cough). Moving on, The Blizzard man video is a perfect example. Andy Samberg, aside from being part of a genius collective of funny men (Lonely Island), is a master of the Candy Corn tactic.

Look at Blizzy B: he’s one part Vanilla Ice, one part Color Me Badd, but 100% hilarious. It’s like a hidden treasure for those of us that share those memories. Trust me, people share content when there’s an emotional connection to it.

What I loved about The Happiness Machine prop, and why we pushed so hard for an older vending machine with no bells and whistles, was to tap into that sense of nostalgia. No touch screen or infrared sensors, no mechanized, robotic arm delivery behind the glass. Oh, and we priced the Coke at $1…hello, nostalgia!

The HEAD video starring Novak Djokovic we shot last year was heavy on the Candy Corn, and the sexual innuendo, thanks to collaboration with the Germans behind the creative. For the record, I’ll take credit for upping the nostalgia with the Flashdance reference and Naked Gun approach to the narrative (the nipple tassels and baby oil was all them).

Aside from a well-executed idea with a good hook, Candy Corn isn’t just the last thing left in your plastic jack-o-lantern anymore. It’s another weapon in your web video arsenal to be generously sprinkled on your creative. If done well it’s another element that inherently makes folks spread your video.

For me as a director, this is a narrative path I choose time and again because I grew up in the glory days of Super Friends, cassette tapes and MTV, when they played music videos and it was arguably the coolest art form on the planet.

Now I get paid to weave as much of that idealized past into my work as possible. It’s what makes me who I am as a creative and a consumer. So remember, next time you think it’s gotta be all shiny-new-futuristic cutting-edge or the kids won’t buy in, remember the candy corn.