Published
Video duration:
4 mins
Why are some adults passionate about the toy section of certain stores, with the need to return to their childhood? The trend is asserting itself and is of interest to sociologists. Regression would be a source of escape and happiness.
That day, a group of colleagues from an insurance company prepare for an unusual game: they must find objects hidden in a ball pit. “It really reminds me of childhood”, laughs one of them. Having fun between adults with childhood memories is a trend that has been growing in recent years. These big children are called “kidultes”, concentration of “kid”, “child” in English, and the word “adult”.
The business of nostalgia
A restaurant revisits canteen dishes, such as breaded Babybel or cordon bleu. A dive into childhood, uninhibited. “It’s comforting, only good things”, confides a customer. The founder, Julien Hemmerdinger, has opened around twenty of his restaurants. “It’s Proust’s madeleine. We have a nostalgic eye, a benevolent eye on this period”he said.
The business of nostalgia has not escaped the notice of brands. In a toy store, we sometimes find alongside the children’s model the version for adults. Growing very strongly in recent years, the kidult market now represents more than a billion euros.