Apropos of nothing, I find it interesting that many of my late 30-something friends have taken to scanning and posting old photos from grade school, high school, college etc. on Facebook.

Keep in mind, these pictures all pre-date digital cameras and offer an entertaining glimpse into life in the 80s and early 90s – before this Interwebs thing took hold.

It’s curious to me though, that this desire to share these images from the past is so compelling that people will actually root around through photo albums, plop them on a scanner and upload them.

Working as I do in and around marketing, most brands would throw a lot of money into an idea that commanded that kind of input and commitment from consumers. So here’s a freebie thought:

It seems to me that there’s a nice opportunity in here for some brand (Kodak are you listening?) to offer a simple means (think NetFlix-like operations) for people to send in, get digitized, and have available online, their old school print pictures. I realize some cottage industries do this locally, but advertising the service through Facebook, I’m guessing you could get a lot of play if the price was right.

And a brand that pulled that off could do more than sell a simple service, it could *own* the idea of enduring friendship and all the trappings and emotional stickiness that brings. It could also take and make relevant in the 21st century an older, venerable brand that’s lost its place in modern culture (um… did I mention Kodak?).