About

You Know The '80s Miss You, Right? refers to a viral video that shows AI-generated characters from the 1980s telling the viewer to "come back" to the decade, and listing all the ways in which the '80s are "better" than the year 2025. The characters were styled in typical '80s attire, with big hair, mullets, windbreakers and high-rise jeans. The videos also featured classic '80s diner scenes, cars and neon glow. The video, which was posted by X / Twitter user @Brian Roemmele in late August 2025, drew ire from internet users who described it as "sinister" and called it a psyop created to one-shot Boomers and Gen-Xers.

Origin

On August 21st, 2025, X^[1] user @BrianRoemmele tweeted, "A message from the 1980s: 'You know the 80s miss you, right?'" gathering over 20 million views and 200,000 likes in three days. The post showed several AI-generated characters dressed and styled in popular 1980s trends, telling the viewer all the ways in which the 1980s were "better" than the year 2025, and telling them that it's time they came back to the decade.

The video is transcribed below:

You know the 80s miss you, right? Let me guess, no one even talks face-to-face anymore. Here, we're out until the streetlights come on. You should stay. The world feels real here. We've got mixtapes, Friday night diners, cruising down Burnside in your friend's Camaro. What's 2025 got? Yo, what are you even doing in 2025? Out there, it looks like everyone is glued to their phones, chasing nothing. No block parties, no Friday night hangout. Do you even remember what it's like to really be here? Out here, time doesn't race, it breathes, and if you've forgotten that, maybe that's why the '80s are calling you back. Yo, you coming or what? You don't get it. The '80s wasn't just about neon lights or mixtapes. It was about being here. Actually being with people. No screens in your face, no noise from the future. Just the moment. The '80s miss you. We all do. Maybe it's time we came back.

Spread

As it spread in late August 2025, several internet users commented on how "sinister" they found the video, and questioned what it meant for the characters to be imploring the viewer to "return" to the 1980s.

For example, on August 22nd, 2025, X^[3] user @jeremysmiles tweeted, "this feels like the computer is trying to get me to kill myself," gathering over 190,000 likes in two days.

Also on August 22nd, X^[2] user @BrndnStrssng tweeted, "I don’t love sharing AI but I’m baffled by what the message is supposed to be here. 'Come back we miss you' is so sinister. Are people supposed to kill themselves and hope the other side is White 80s," gathering over 7 million views and 200,000 likes in two days.

That same day, X^[4] user @sapphyreblayze tweeted a still from the analog horror webseries Local 58, likening it to the "80s Miss You" video. The post gathered over 118,000 likes in two days.

On August 23rd, 2025, X^[5] user @chuuprematism tweeted a meme featuring philosopher Baudrillard that read, "we're gonna be right about so much you may even get tired of being right and youll say "please please it's too much being right we can't take it anymore Mr. Baudrillard it's too much," and I'll say no it isn't we have to keep being right we have to be right about more we're gonna be right about more."

On August 24th, the tweet from X user @sapphyreblayze was reposted to the /r/PeterExplainsTheJoke^[6] subreddit by Redditor XanaX_Inhaler6247, asking for an explanation of the meme, receiving over 5,200 upvotes and 120 comments in one day. The top-voted answer from Redditor Content-Ninja9490 stated:

By the way, the top image is from an analog horror show called "local 58" (also the first to use the term "analog horror") in where the local 58 broadcast is often interrupted, showing something that wasn't meant to be shown. In this particular episode the hijackers decide to try and get people to kill their pets, neighbors, family, and themselves.

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External References