Marketing Highlights of the Previous Cicada Boom

Time has a two-page spread about this year's cicada appearance, including a brief look back at what happened in 1996, the last time the 17-year cicadas were above ground.

Following up, I want to present a few marketing highlights of the year 1996 with updates from the latest news.

• Yahoo! went public in 1996 . . . and just this year, before the cicadas emerged, Yahoo acquired Tumblr. 
• Amazon.com was first established as a corporation in 1996 . . . and today, the pioneering e-commerce company rings up $64 billion in annual sales.
• McDonald's opened the first branded restaurant inside an Olympic Village, in 1996 in Atlanta . . . and for 2013, the fast-food giant became the official NFL restaurant sponsor of the Pro Bowl.
• Pepsi, taking advantage of what was cutting-edge communications tech in 1996, launched a "Beeper Network" for Mountain Dew . . . and earlier this year, USA Today's Admeter said that Pepsi's "Coke Driver Busted" TV commercial from 1996 was one of the top three Super Bowl ads of all time.

What will the marketing headlines be in 2030, the next time this cicada brood emerges?