Instead, it is used for anything even remotely dated in a work, along with merely dated settings and, in some cases, intentionally dated things.

Specifically, a collaborative wick check done by myself and War Jay 77 (with some help from mightymewtron) revealed the following:

• 29.41% of examples were correctly used
• 43.14% of examples were used for minor things in a movie that were dated
• 1.96% of examples were intentionally dated
• 13.73% of examples had a dated setting, without necessarily having lots of dated things in it
• 9.80% of examples were ZCEs, and
• 1.96% of examples did not fit the other categories.

Totaled together, 29.41% of the examples are correctly used, and 70.59% are incorrect. And as mightymewtron pointed out in the Wick Check thread, even many of the correct examples are very snarky and complain-y.

What should be done about this trope? War Jay 77 suggested moving it to YMMV. Beyond that, I don't have many other ideas.

• Film.Mallrats: The film is pretty much dripping with 90s culture, from the outfits to the music. Even Truth Or Date, despite being a 60s/70s throwback, is indicative of what was nostalgic in the 90s. Sounds correct at least...
• Trivia.Scary Movie (1): A big problem with Scary Movie 2, even taking into account the fact that spoof movies generally don't age too well. In addition to the film featuring a lot of spoofs of adverts and music videos from 2000—2001 (which are a lot less likely to be remembered than films from the same time period), most of the films being spoofed got horrible critical receptions and were quickly forgotten, which hurts the film quite badly these days. The second movie also contains a reference to then popular, but now mostly-forgotten game show The Weakest Link. This, and the other example from the page, both reference how the movies dated themselves by basing them off of references that faded quickly.
• Trivia.Scary Movie (2): Scary Movie 4 suffers from this to some extent, as a result of a lot of references to pop cultural things that are now mostly forgotten or considered outdated, such as MySpace and the original iPod. Fortunately, most of the films being spoofed are still well-remembered and well-regarded (with the arguable exception of The Grudge and The Village), so the film doesn't feel quite as dated overall.
• Trivia.Sneakers: Between the Mafia missing the Cold War, Why We Are Bummed Communism Fell sentiment of field agents, dial-up Internet, flip phones, and NSA introductions, this is clearly set in early 90s. Describes a work full of dated things from The '90s that wasn't meant to be a Period Piece.
• Trivia.The Cardinal Of The Kremlin: The plot of the novel is tied to a quite specific period of the Cold War (START, SDI, heroic Afghan freedom fighters), and it dated very quickly. Only five years later, the film adaptations of the series skipped straight over it. Sounds pretty dated.
• Trivia.World War Z: Between its parodies of and references to various celebrities and public figures, its portrayal of the internet and "alternative" media, the manner in which The War on Terror affects the US' initial, blundering response to the Zombie Apocalypse, and even brief mentions of the Nintendo Game Cube and of Ukraine controlling Crimea, the book is decidedly rooted in the anxieties and concerns of Bush-era America. Describes a movie full of things that date it to the Turn of the Millennium.
• Trivia.The Doom Generation: The film's pop culture references, political satire and fashions instantly place it as a mid-90s piece. Jordan and Xavier have quintessential curtains hairstyles, likewise for Amy's bob. Describes a film that is ridiculously dated due to lots of dated things in it, which is the correct use.
• Trivia.Grand Theft Auto III (2): Several other topical references date themselves, with radio commercials alone satirizing the dot-com boom (PetsOvernight.com, which delivers exotic animals overnight), massive SUVs (the aforementioned Maibatsu Monstrosity - its advertised mileage of 3 miles per gallon is treated as a point of pride in one commercial), dating services (Fernando's New Beginnings, a dating service which lets bored husbands secretly arrange for trysts with prostitutes) and the beginnings of Reality TV (Liberty City Survivor, where 20 recently-paroled guys are equipped with heavy weapons and then dropped into the city to hunt each other down, with one commercial including a recommendation from someone who got shot by one of the contestants). There's also the adrenaline pills, which in addition to boosting your melee strength put you into Bullet Time - an obvious reminder of the days in the early- to mid-2000s where the influence of The Matrix reigned supreme. Correctly describes a work being very dated due to having multiple dated things in it.
• Trivia.Jurassic Park 1993 (1): The first film for the most part does a good job avoiding references that would tend to date these kinds of films, but the bulky computer monitor technology and the prevalence of Thinking Machines computers grounds it to the 1990s. As does Sattler's attire. Describes a film being dated by multiple things in it.
• Trivia.Final Destination: The cameras used and the music for the soundtrack place the movie sometime after the the 1980s, but the under-reaction to a guy saying a plane is going to explode, which turns out to be true, clearly shows the movie was made before 9/11. Describes multiple things making a work very dated.
• FollowTheLeader.Western Animation: The long-running rivalry between The Simpsons and South Park is an interesting case study in this trope. In South Parks early days, when it generally stuck to its simple "quirky small-town America" premise, many people unfavorably compared it to The Simpsons, accusing it of substituting that show's clever writing for simple vulgarity. South Park is generally agreed to have Grown the Beard when it started drawing more humor from current events and politics, and satire became its biggest strength. Conversely, when The Simpsons came to be criticized for its increasing reliance on quickly outdated topical humor, many people accused it of trying to copy South Park. So while South Park was once derided as a less clever version of The Simpsons, The Simpsons is now often derided as a less daring South Park. Pothole correctly describes a series becoming dated due to topical things that don't age well.'
• Trivia.Day Of The Barney Trilogy: Several things such as the lack of BJ and Riff (the third and fourth dinosaurs, respectively, introduced in the show following Baby Bop and Barney), mentions of the huge popularity of Barney himself, and other things such as trends mentioned in the fanfics firmly place the trilogy as a product of the 1990s. Correctly describes how multiple things in the Hate Fic have made it a product of its era.
• Trivia.Mafalda: For The '60s. Most strips avoid this, but enough of them make enough references to place them in that time period; among them:
  • The hairdos and attire of female background characters.
  • Mafalda's dad having been a fan of Bing Crosby in his youth.
  • The design of some appliances that are no longer made even if some may still be in use.
    • The new TV that Mafalda's dad buys is a square box model television with dials and no remote control.
    • Every character has rotary dial land-line telephones at home.
    • Mafalda's dad owns a brand new Citroën 2CV which stopped production around The '80s.
  • Almost all the children are Beatles fans.
  • Guille has a thing for Brigitte Bardot.
  • Allusions to the US space program include remarks about Gordon Cooper, the Mariner probes and the Moon landing.
  • Constant mentions about the Cold War (The USSR-USA rivalry, Vietnam, the Berlin Wall, the Japanese economic miracle, fear of Red China, and the possibility of atomic war...) Entires correctly describe multiple things making a work very dated.
• Trivia.She Devil: This movie is very definitely a product of its time. Late-'80s hairstyles, outfits, and attitudes. Robin Leach introduces us to Mary Fisher via an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. At one point Mary has a satellite dish installed for Andrew, and we see two fully-grown men struggling trying to set up a huge dish in the front lawn (most, if not all, satellite dishes of today are about as big as a dinner plate and attach onto the house). We see Nicolette spending all her time on a party line from a late-'80s cell phone. Nicolette's room has a Tiffany poster and Andrew watches some WWE fight where the hair is larger than the muscles. To cap it all off, we even see a promotional poster for Tim Burton's Batman in Times Square in one scene! Entry correctly describes a work being made dated by multiple things in it.
• Literature.Thirteen Reasons Why: Magic Floppy Disk: The tapes. Clay even has to go look for a Walkman so he can walk around when he listens. Word of God is that it's intentional, so that the book won't become too dated. By using something that is said to be outdated, it won't seem like an Unintentional Period Piece. Bolded for emphasis. Intentionally (and correctly) used.

• Trivia.Angus Og: With its many mentions of contemporary events and cameos by UK celebs and politicians, it is very much tied to its time.
• Trivia.Anarchist Cookbook: As mentioned above, the mentions of phone phreaking make it obvious that it was written in The '70s.
• Trivia.Doctor Who S 1 E 1 An Unearthly Child: One of the reasons why Susan is considered unusual is because she doesn't know how pre-decimal currency works, and that she thought the UK was on the decimal system. At the time this is perfectly reasonable, but given the UK really did switch to decimilised currency in 1971, nowadays it's perfectly reasonable for a 15-year-old to not understand it. Describes only one thing that is dated.
• Trivia.I Carly: The episode "iMeet Fred". Most kids today would not even know who Fred is and will probably assume that it's just a Show Within a Show created specifically for iCarly. Describes an episode being dated only because it contains a no longer popular online celebrity.
• Trivia.Nickmas: The first Frosty the Snowman parody short uses Libby's original hairstyle even when she's a senior. Describes only one thing that is dated in a work.
• Trivia.The Simpsons S 11 E 19 Kill The Alligator And Run (1): This episode aired in April of 2000; the Montana Militia largely disbanded around this time, after reaching its peak membership during the previous year. Describes only one thing that is dated in the episode.
• Trivia.The Raccoons: At the end of "The Prism of Zenda!", Cyril can be seen with a cigar in his mouth... in prison. Smoking has been banned in Canadian prisons since 2008. Pothole bolded for emphasis. Pothole references only one thing dated in a work.
• Trivia.Trading Places (1): At the time the film was made, using misappropriated or "insider" information to invest in commodities (as opposed to the stock and bond market) was not a crime, although a government courier could still get in trouble for unauthorized release of government information like the crop report in the film. The law that changed this, Section 136 of the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act, ^note also called the Dodd-Frank Act enacted in 2010, is informally known as the "Eddie Murphy Rule." The chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission specifically referred to the film when first publicly proposing the rule change. Describes one thing in a movie that is dated.
• Trivia.Trading Places (2): A lot of what goes down at the stock market in this movie is also not possible now thanks to computers — pit trading and open outcry are no longer widely used, for example. Describes only one thing in a movie that is dated.
• Trivia.Say Anything (1): The Signature Scene of Lloyd holding a boombox over his head might not have the same impact today if he were holding an iPod instead. Then again, a 21st-century Lloyd would be holding up some kind of iPod player with a picture of a boombox on it, as joked by Brie Larson. Describes only one dated thing in a work.
• Trivia.Say Anything (2): The people filming the graduation ceremony using actual film cameras. Today they'd just be holding up their phones. Describes only one dated thing in a work.
• Trivia.Kidsongs (1): "A Day with the Animals" has a killer whale in Marineland of the Pacific (which closed a year after it was filmed) performing tricks in "I Love the Water World". Come The New '10s, the controversy over raising orcas in captivity forced water parks to stop doing such shows, most notably Sea World in 2016. Describes one dated thing in a song.
• Trivia.The Cat In The Hat: In The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, the protagonist's father owns a pair of shoes that cost $10. Pricey in 1958 but these days you'd wonder why he'd have such cheap footwear.
• Trivia.Wishbone: If the episode "A Dogged Expose" took place today, Damont certainly wouldn't be distributing those embarrassing photos on flyers. He'd be posting them on social media.
• Trivia.ET The Extra Terrestrial (2): On the other hand, jock older brother Michael's introduction has him playing Dungeons & Dragons without hinting at him having any geeky or creative Hidden Depths, which firmly grounds the film in the early 80s (the height of D&D's popularity as a fad) for fans of the film who are role-players. Describes one thing that is dated in the film.
• Trivia.Grand Theft Auto III (1): Claude uses a pager (and in some cases, a pay phone box) rather than a cell phone to communicate. On Chatterbox, a Moral Guardians group leader against cell phones calls in to protest against them, but also talk about how difficult it is to communicate without them. Both of these elements have been dated past The New '10s with many more people owning cell phones, and even more so by the fact almost every later game in the "GTAIII era" of the series - despite being intentional period pieces dated even earlier than GTAIII - uses cell phones rather than pagers. Describes one dated thing in the game.
• Trivia.Grand Theft Auto III (4): The character of Donald Love is quite clearly based on the then-current pop-culture depiction of Donald Trump, being a ruthless businessman owning a large skyscraper who expresses a desire to instigate a gang war for property development. Describes one dated thing in the game.
• Trivia.Jurassic Park 1993 (2): This applies to the dinosaurs as well, thanks to Science Marches On. In 1993 they were the most up-to-date depiction of dinosaurs in film. Now they're nearly as dated as the "old" dinosaurs they once displaced. Describes one dated thing in the movie.
• Trivia.Henry Stickmin Series: A lot of older memes are referenced in earlier games that remain unchanged in the Collection version, most notably the Shoop-da-Woop Running Gag. References some things that are dated in the series, without implying that they make the whole game dated.
• Trivia.Another Cinderella Story: Mary's The Girl Who Fits This Slipper subplot involves her Zune music player, which was discontinued in 2011 (a little over half a decade after the movie's release). The description for the film for some cable and streaming services even misidentifies it as an iPod. Describes one dated thing in a work.
• Recap.The Simpsons S 3 E 14 Lisa The Greek: Take That!: The episode takes jabs at the Super Bowl broadcasts of the 1980s, which consisted on rather bland family-friendly half-time shows built around a theme while the game would be followed by the premiere of a new TV show that would usually be cancelled after one season (The A-Team, which premiered after S.B. XVII being one of the few exceptions). This doubles with Unintentional Period Piece for both practices were abandoned a few years later: The half-time show would feature pop stars beginning in the following year (something in which Fox's In Living Color! special played an important part), and after NBC aired an special hour-long episode of Friends after Super Bowl 30, most post-game shows would be SB-themed episodes of already-established programs. Pothole describes two dated things in an episode, rather than the episode itself being very dated.
• Trivia.Jack And The Beanstalk 1974: The music is reminiscent of songs from the 70's when it was made, especially the music the salesman plays on his lute, and in the original Japanese version near the end of the "Tulip" song he does an Elvis Presley impression. There's also a bit of Values Dissonance when Jack's mother spanks him onscreen. Describes two things that are dated in a work, without saying that they make the work itself dated.

• Trivia.Nineteen Ninety Something: Inverted, seeing as how the comic takes place in The '90s but was created in the mid-to-late 2010s. Regardless, the comic contains so many outdated 90s references that one either has to have lived in the 90s or have a vast knowledge of the decade to understand any of it. Intentional Period Piece.

• Trivia.Tragedy Girls: Much of the film's humor is rooted in satirizing the True Crime fandom of the 2010s, portraying it as obsessed with murderers in a manner that recalls the real-life "Columbiner" communities of that era. After the Parkland shooting and the March for Our Lives in 2018, a year after this film came out, the online true crime community took a very notable shift away from that sort of attitude, and nowadays, the idolization of serial killers and spree killers of the sort that Sadie and McKayla engage in is regarded as tasteless, at least in the more mainstream communities. Describes a film's premise being heavily influenced by a once-relevant subculture, without the film actually being filled with dated things.
• Trivia.The Simpsons S 11 E 19 Kill The Alligator And Run (2): The episode also features the party-hard youth culture of the 90s and 2000s at its peak, with Kid Rock appearing at an MTV show broadcast from the beach (featuring a joke about the age of the channel's presenters), with Rock's particular brand of Rap Rock being passe by the time the episode aired, while this zeitgeist would be greatly affected by 9/11. Kid Rock's hype man Joe C. also appears alongside him in this episode, seven months before he died from complications related to dwarfism. Describes an overarching culture that affects the episode's timeliness, without the episode itself being actually necessarily filled with dated things.
• Trivia.Kidsongs (2): "A Day at the Circus" aged even worse. In the years since the video was first released, the traditional American-style traveling circus has diminished in popularity with the biggest example being the closing of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 2017. Not helping is the animal acts, especially those with elephants, which have come under much scrutiny by animal rights groups. Describes a song being dated because it is set in a circus, which are no longer as relevant as they once were.
• Trivia.Goku Midnight Eye: The series is exceedingly 80s, with a cyberpunk future where fashion has remained the same and the USSR is still around. Sounds like it uses some 80s tropes and history, but doesn't sound too heavily dated.
• Trivia.Bicycle Thieves: The story very much reflects the conditions in Italy after World War II. Unemployment and crime were rampant, the police generally weren't very competent, and, as shown in a few scenes, communism had a large following in the country. And Rita Hayworth (featured on the posters Antonio is supposed to hang) was at the peak of her international popularity. Entry describes an era's culture making a movie dated, rather than the movie being dated due to being full of things from its era.
• Trivia.Grand Theft Auto III (3): Liberty City's portrayal as The Big Rotten Apple, a view that started to fade soon after 9/11 (which happened a month before the game's release) and The War on Terror. Even though the game was held back a month to attempt to remove content that would look offensive after 9/11, very little could actually be done with the small amount of time they had (the police cars were changed to a Los Angeles-inspired color scheme rather than emulating the NYPD's then-current and distinctive blue on white, airplanes couldn't be blown up, and the only plane in the game had its wings clipped to make it nearly impossible to fly), dating it to the immediate pre-9/11 period of 2000 to, at latest, August 2001. Describes a game being dated due to a dated setting.
• Film.Mission To Moscow: A few years after its release, the Cold War arrived and Mission to Moscow became an Old Shame for all involved. Warner Bros. argued that the film had been an "expedient lie" to help the war effort along and that it had never been meant for posterity. The House Un-American Activities Committee wasn't buying it, so Warner Bros. threw screenwriter Howard Koch to the wolves. Even though he had written the film under contract and had never belonged to the Communist Party, Koch was subsequently put on The Hollywood Blacklist. Since the Red Scare, the movie has largely faded into obscurity, and it's now remembered as one of the all-time Unintentional Period Pieces. Sometimes it's shown, not without controversy, on Turner Classic Movies. Pothole describes a film dated by its setting rather than by having a lot of dated things in it.

• Trivia.Beverly Hills 90210: This was the first of the many, many iconic teen dramas of The '90s, and the first of many to fall into this trope. It also does a great job at keeping up with the times. Season one looks straight out of the 80s while season five and later look straight up 90s. Does not explain how this work is an Unintentional Period Piece.
• Trivia.Play It Again Sam: Dick's Running Gag wouldn't work after the existence of cellphones.
• WebVideo.Vampire Reviews: In her words, The Lost Boys, Fright Night (1985), and Once Bitten are "sooo 80's." Does not explain how they are "sooo 80's."
• WesternAnimation.The Spirit Of 43 (in description): Like most wartime cartoons the short is never broadcast on television, because it is an Unintentional Period Piece. It is also one of the few Disney cartoons to have fallen into the Public Domain early. Bolded pothole does not explain why this is an Unintentional Period Piece.
• Trivia.An Unmarried Woman: The film is very much a window into a time of increased divorce, women's lib, and the very height of the pre-A.I.D.S. sexual revolution. Does not explain why.

• Trivia.ET The Extra Terrestrial (1): Averted nicely unlike a lot of 80s movies. You can tell it was filmed in the 1980s due to the cars, the TV, and the family owning an Atari 2600, but it doesn't stick out like other examples. Many of the pop culture references they make like Star Wars or The Twilight Zone (1959) are still known by today's audiences. Entry literally says that it does not fit the trope.