Wake Up Madison Avenue, Older Folks Have More Cash

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orabelmcga of KS 12:41PM October 29, 2009

Hey all you beautiful people. I'm hoping to meet new friends here so drop me a note when you
get a chance.
I hope to make some quality posts soon but first I have to look around the forum and
familiarize myself with everyone.
Bye for now. lol

Shenelle of AL 4:48AM July 22, 2009

My wife and I are both 67 yrs young. We enjoy life and having a good time. This requires spending money. In the last 6 months we traveled to 4 different countries. Grandma also likes to spend money on both our children and grandchildren. So advertisers zero in on Grandma, she is where the money is, just ask QVC.

Tom K of IL 7:52PM June 26, 2009

If I can get someone to equate my brand with a product then I never need to advetise to them again. If tissue=Kleenex I win! Just look at Coke vs. Pepsi. It's all soda. Where did that loyalty come from? Branding.
Older people are more intelligent? I'm not going to dignify that with a response.
I will grant you that a more mature person will realize that a tissue is a tissue whatever they call it. On the other side of the coin, a lot of 18-22 year-olds will eat whatever ramen they can buy the most of with 20 bucks.
The real problem with advertising is that they sell us some real crap. Back in 1999 I lived in CA and there were these ads pushing energy deregulation. I freely admit I bought the whole line. I voted for it and the next summer I paid ten times more for natural gas. Electricity was intermittent...and expensive. Old people died from the 100+ degree heat. Gray Davis got voted out and Arnold got voted in. This all came from Enron, but they didn't do it themselves...it was the ads that made it happen.
BTW: this is a really good example of what deregulation can get you.
It's time for advertisers to be held responsible for what they do. They sell us big gas-guzzling SUV's when we're running out of oil. They tell us that global warming isn't real...then they say the coal industry is working on it. They told us "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should". They told us our kids need prozac, paxil, ritalin, and whatever else comes down the pipe. Advertisers lie and get paid for it. I know. I wrote commercials for years and I still can't get the smell of evil out of my clothes.

AndroidBoy420 of WI 3:01PM May 27, 2009

Include me out of your generalization, suspicious mind--what's so great about TV watching? I myself am over 60 and refuse to own a TV. I surf the Web a lot, though.

mim of NY 11:28PM May 23, 2009

I agree it makes no sense to disregard the older generation when advertising. It is very simple we are not as enamored with other media, video games, the web, ipods, etc. We watch more TV

suspicious mind of SC 6:37PM May 23, 2009

I agree with what Skittles said, with these qualifications:
1. Over-35's are an economically diverse lot. Not all of them are more affluent than the young. But they've nearly all had decades of exposure to the blandishments of Madison Avenue, and have built up sales resistance. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me a thousand times, shame on me.
2. Simple arithmetic is on the side of pandering to the young. A teenager may or may not offer a lifetime of loyalty, but chances are he has most of his life ahead of him. The old and middle aged can't offer that possibility; dead people won't buy your product.
It's not that young people are less intelligent than their elders. But they are more naive and more peer-influenced. And anyway, is intelligence what you want in a sucker?

mim of NY 7:58AM May 23, 2009

Maybe, because the over-35 crowd is more affluent and more intelligent, Madison Avenue understands that they are less likely to be influenced by their advertising lines. Their ad money is better spent on indulging, flattering, cajoling the under 35, less affluent (but more peer driven) and less intelligent (easier to fool) set.
Take it as a compliment that Madison Avenue no longer targets you as a sheep in a mindless flock. Or, maybe you have already fallen victim to their mindwashing (set in your ways) and almost semi-consciously buy what they want you to without additional encouragement or ad money spent. Meh.
Boston Legal was a great show that in its last few episodes took pot shots at the television and advertising "young is better" mindset. That show was priceless, but now it is gone.

Skittles of IL 2:39PM May 22, 2009