Polaroid champions an analogue way of living amid AI hype

US – Polaroid has launched The Camera for an Analog Life, a campaign designed to push back against screen fatigue and AI overload. The initiative celebrates real-world connection through Polaroid’s new Flip instant camera. 

From New York’s JFK Airport to Apple Store neighbourhoods, fly-posted Polaroids carry slogans such as ‘Real stories. Not stories & reels’ and ‘No one on their deathbed ever said: I wish I’d spent more time on my phone’. The campaign deliberately places tactile imagery beside digital environments, prompting passers-by to reflect. 

To bring the concept to life, Polaroid is rolling out phone-free walking tours in cities including Paris, Tokyo and London, starting on 19 August. Participants are encouraged to stash their phones for an hour and capture the city through the Flip camera. Each session ends with mailing a photo as a postcard – an act that reinforces an analogue way of living in a world dictated by digital.  

Patricia Varella, Polaroid’s brand and creative director, notes: ‘We are analogue creatures… the more we lose ourselves in digital algorithms, the more we drift away from empathy and real connection.’ Polaroid deliberately aims to awaken people to the emotional power of physical moments captured on real film. 

Unplugging reflects a wider shift highlighted in our Digital Detox Destinations report, which explores how travellers are increasingly seeking out environments that offer silence, simplicity and screen-free space.