After a four-year hiatus, Meta’s flagship platform looks back to move forward, but can nostalgia reconnect a generation that’s already left?
Every year, millions of Americans make the journey home for Thanksgiving. Airports overflow, road trips stretch for miles, and local bars fill with familiar faces. For many, it’s the one time of year when old connections resurface, and that bittersweet mix of warmth and nostalgia is exactly what Facebook wants to tap into this holiday season.
The social network has released its first major brand campaign in four years, “A Little Connection Goes a Long Way,” created by Droga5 and directed by Miles Jay of Smuggler. The hero spot, “Home for the Holidays,” follows a group of friends reuniting in their hometown, their plans sparked by a single Facebook message. Set to Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash’s haunting duet “Girl from the North Country,” the ad unfolds like a cinematic throwback to a simpler time, before feeds were algorithmic, before notifications became noise, before Facebook was anything but a place to keep in touch.
The spot will air on linear TV during college football and NBC’s Wicked special, as well as across Peacock, Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video, with extensions running on TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, and podcasts. It’s the opening act of a larger campaign designed to reintroduce Facebook to millennial and Gen Z audiences, many of whom have long since migrated to Instagram or TikTok.
A return to connection, or an act of reinvention?
According to Meta, the campaign aims to remind users “what made Facebook magic in the first place.” That magic, of course, was the ability to bring people together, a premise that once felt effortless and now feels, frankly, nostalgic.
It’s nostalgia that Home for the Holidays leans into masterfully. From its cozy cinematography to its Americana soundtrack, the film captures a universal truth: coming home isn’t just a place, it’s a feeling. And it’s one that Facebook, facing its own identity crisis, is desperate to reclaim.
The campaign arrives as part of a broader push to rebuild relevance among younger audiences. Facebook’s Global Marketing Director Briana de Veer notes that “young adults are using Facebook to navigate life stages” from furnishing first apartments through Marketplace, to finding love on Facebook Dating, or joining Groups to meet new people.
Indeed, data backs up some of that optimism: one in four young adults (ages 18–29) in the U.S. and Canada use Marketplace, and daily browsing among that group has risen steadily. Marketplace and Groups remain two of Facebook’s strongest bridges between online and offline connection, and Droga5’s campaign cleverly highlights them as part of the brand’s new “real-world” storytelling.
The human side of Meta
The timing is also no accident. With the tech world consumed by talk of AI, including Meta’s own investments, this campaign feels almost like a reset: an emotional reminder that connection, not computation, built the company’s foundation.
It’s not the first time Facebook has gone sentimental. When the platform celebrated one billion users back in 2012, Wieden+Kennedy and director Alejandro González Iñárritu delivered “The Things That Connect Us,” a heartfelt ode to everyday togetherness. A decade later, Droga5’s work echoes that same energy, only with a tinge of longing for the version of Facebook that once embodied it.
Aspiration vs. reality
Still, it’s hard to ignore the irony. In culture, Facebook is no longer the cozy hometown it portrays, it’s the chaotic town square. In the real-life version of this ad, those same high school friends might just end up arguing about politics over cheap beer instead of reminiscing about old times.
Advertising, of course, thrives on aspiration. But there’s a fine line between aspiration and delusion, and Facebook’s latest campaign walks it precariously. The warmth feels genuine, but the world it depicts, one where connection is simple and wholesome, feels like something that existed long before the algorithm did.
A little connection, a long way to go
There’s no denying Droga5’s craft: Home for the Holidays is beautifully made, evocative, and perfectly timed for the season. It may even make some viewers redownload the app, if only to check old memories or send that “we should catch up” message.
But if Meta truly wants to reconnect with a new generation, nostalgia won’t be enough. Today’s young users crave authenticity, transparency, and relevance, not just reminders of what once was.
The campaign’s tagline might say “A Little Connection Goes a Long Way,” but for Facebook, rebuilding trust and cultural resonance could take more than one heartfelt trip home.