2026 Retro Ad Submission

“Be Kind; Rewind” Community Showcase

Welcome to the Furry Migration 2026 Retro Ad Showcase, part of this year’s theme: “Be Kind; Rewind.” Throughout the convention, displays across the venue will feature a rotating lineup of parody advertisements inspired by the late 80s and early 90s. An era of VHS tapes, local cable commercials, overproduced infomercials, and bold, sometimes baffling marketing choices.

We’re inviting the community to take part by creating their own original “ads” that capture the spirit of that time. Whether it’s a fictional product, a spoof of mall culture, a late-night infomercial, or something that feels like it was recorded off a worn-out tape at 2am, this is your chance to lean into the aesthetic, humor, and charm of retro media.

Submissions will be reviewed and selected for inclusion in a curated rotation shown throughout the event. Our goal is to build a varied, creative mix of content that feels authentic to the era while showcasing the creativity of the community. If you’ve ever wanted to make something cheesy, nostalgic, strange, or just unmistakably “of the time,” this is a good place to do it.

Ideas to spark creativity

• Local TV Commercial
• Infomercial
• Video Game Ad
• Retail Ad
• Public Access TV
• Early Tech / “Future” Product

We encourage: VHS-era visuals, tracking distortion, analog effects… Parody products, fake brands, or exaggerated concepts… and/or Local TV commercial vibes, infomercials, mall ads, early tech hype. Remember: Authenticity to the era is more important than production quality.

Submission Guidelines

• Must follow our Code of Conduct.
• Your submission must not contain
  • Graphic violence or disturbing imagery
  • Hate speech or discriminatory content
  • Harassment or targeting of individuals/groups
• Do not use copyrighted music, video, or logos unless you have permission
• Please keep runtime beneath 90 seconds (A minute and a half)
  • In some circumstances, we’ll allow for longer runtime videos if its intended to be like a short episode. We’re more likely to accept these if they stay true to the retro vibe of this showcase.
  • If you’re going for a longer runtime, please keep it beneath 5 minutes.
• You may watermark your content with credit as long as its not overly distractive of your content
• Avoid rapid flashing or strobe effects that may cause discomfort
• Not all submissions will be shown and/or accepted
• Advertising of freelance/commercial works is fine as long as the primary heart and focus of the content remains in the retro parody ad style

Please render/export your submission as MP4. Orientation: Landscape. Clear and balanced audio.

Please submit your content as 16:9 or 4:3. (Bonus points if 4:3). Please no vertical videos.

Submissions close Sunday August 16th, 2026 at 10:00pm Central.

Terms of use

You confirm that you created the submission or have the rights to submit it and your submission does not violate copyright, trademark, or other rights.

You grant Minnesota Furs / Furry Migration a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to:

• Display your submission during Furry Migration 2026
• Include it in rotating digital displays at the event
• Use it in recap or promotional materials on social media

Furry Migration may modify and adjust formatting (resolution, aspect ratio, audio levels). We will not substantially alter the creative intent of your work. Furry Migration will make reasonable efforts to credit creators. This is a voluntary community showcase. No financial compensation will be provided for submissions.

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Due to limitations on our ability to store files on our own webserver, please upload your video to a storage provider from where we can get the content easily. If possible, please leave the content uploaded up until the convention weekend.

If you have questions or have CRT displays to loan the convention to help in this effort, please email theme@furrymigration.org.

Submission form