Compare/Contrast: Vintage Packaging

"Vintage" is a novel concept: take an old design, bring it to the present, and create a statement with attitude.  Sometimes that attitude is one of edge, other times one of innocence.  I guess the soda companies caught on to this phenomena because lately all I've been seeing in grocery stores are "throwback" labels.  I'm not complaining - I actually think they're quaint.

Here's an example of Pepsi and Mountain Dew's recent "vintage" packaging:

Kinda snazzy, right?

What typically characterizes this "vintage" or "retro" packaging?  What I've observed that that these labels are usually simpler than their newer counterparts.  This usually means less text and less background detail.  Perhaps the most noticeable and defining of the differences, at least in my option, is the matte feel, or the diminished usage of gradients and shading in general.  For example, we have the follow image, which shows a retro Trix bow next to a recent Trix box:

Notice how much simpler the cartoon on the old box is compared to the new one.  The new box has a better sense of composition (more space is covered by cartoons, advertisements, and text) and uses gradients to show motion (in the flying cereal), to make the name more prominent, and to add life to the rabbit character.  Though I'm a huge fan of a nice composition, I argue that the vintage box has more character.

But why are companies reverting to retro designs?  I think it has to do with the recession.  "Throwback" design reminds consumers of a simpler time, especially when those designs come from the forties and fifties, which are decades that exemplify a happy American family-based lifestyle.