Selling the good ol’ days, and earning last year’s salary

GOOD DAY FOR: Living in the past, as Madison Avenue has landed on nostalgia as the best way to sell what products people are still buying. Blue-chip companies from Pepsi to McDonald’s are reviving old jingles from the 1950s through 1980s, or creating new ad campaigns to emulate those decades. The theory—that warm, fuzzy feelings about the past will make consumers feel better about the present—has worked in previous downturns. (The New York Times)

BAD DAY FOR: Asking for a raise, as a quarter of the world’s companies plan on freezing salaries this year, including 40 percent of companies in the U.S. and half of those in Japan, according to ECA International. India, because of a shortage of talent, and South America, due to inflation, will see the highest raises. In the U.S., average salaries will rise a paltry 2.8 percent. (Reuters)

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