The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2023
Amazon's 2023 Amasongs: nine deliberately campy polka sing-alongs that made old feel new
Amazon revived its vintage Amasongs idea for the 2023 holidays — nine new polka sing-alongs for Gen-Z, keeping the cringe props that made it stand out.
Amazon
What it had to solve
Amazon needed to stand out during the 2023 holidays, when other campaigns went hi-fidelity and flooded the season with polished work. Its audience included Gen-Z, a generation not typically hyped by polka, so the revival had to earn attention on a modern platform.
How it works
Amazon faced the 2023 holiday season surrounded by multiple polished campaigns from other advertisers. To stand out, it turned to an age-old tradition: jolly holiday music, revived from its own vintage Amasongs campaign.
Instead of chasing hi-fidelity like everyone else, the team wrote nine new polka sing-alongs specifically for Gen-Z — a genre not typically hyped on TikTok. The songs stayed true to the outdated look of the original campaign, with stiff acting, campy set designs and cringe props kept deliberately intact.
The bet was that on a modern platform, an openly old-fashioned campaign would read as brand-new. By going for old, the work felt fresh against the polished holiday ads around it and stood out from the multiple other holiday campaigns.
The revival is held in the D&AD awards archive under Film, which records no view or sales figures for the campaign.
Why it lands
- Polka is the least expected genre on Gen-Z feeds, so the choice itself created the contrast with every polished rival.
- Keeping the stiff acting and campy sets made the campaign unmistakably one thing instead of a generic holiday ad.
- Nine new songs gave the idea scale and repeatability rather than reducing it to a single one-off spot.
- Embracing the cringe props and outdated look turned the campaign's obvious weakness into the joke that made old feel new.
What it did
Going for old made the campaign feel completely new on a modern platform and stand out from the multiple other holiday campaigns around it. The work is held in the D&AD awards archive under Film, which records no view or sales figures.
What you can take
When every competitor escalates production polish, deliberate datedness can be the novelty — keep the flaws that make the idea recognizable instead of fixing them.
Since then
Amazon's 2023 Amasongs brought its vintage polka sing-along idea back for the holidays with nine new songs written specifically for Gen-Z. The campaign deliberately kept the outdated look of the original — stiff acting, campy set designs and cringe props — while other holiday advertisers chased hi-fi production, and the contrast made it feel completely new on a modern platform. It stood out from the multiple other holiday campaigns of the season, and the work is held in the D&AD awards archive under Film, which records no view or sales figures.
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