11.8 Million, the number of the UK population who are aged 65 or older. And yet, I think I’m

right in saying that a lot of us found ourselves a little stumped in one of our recent portfolio

brief, which was concerned with older consumers. It often felt as though comedy tropes

characterised the consumer, perhaps because classmates didn’t feel as though they could

comfortably demonstrate customer insights. So is it any surprise that older consumers often

feel overlooked or offensively represented in advertising.

R: Okay so, how do you speak to such a large demographic who share only one definitive

commonality, having been born before 1950? What’s more, perhaps this is yet another

argument against the industry’s addiction to classifying people on the basis of their age,

class, race or sex, instead of their interests, their personality traits or their life experiences.

G: Also, I often feel that the industry has in some ways very outdated assumptions about

older people, which perhaps need testing against reality more rigorously from time to time.

Yes, we make time to enjoy ourselves, and we love our holidays, but most retired people I

know are very busy working in the community, in their church community (usually for the

less fortunate), helping with child care to a greater or lesser degree ( that’s something I

have been doing for 22 years now – almost a second career?), and also in some cases still

looking after their own elderly parents.

playing in right now. DS3 released an ad which revolves around design queen and 94 year old

Iris Apfel. She brings a colourful vitality to an ad which emphasises the elegant, modern

design of the car. Interestingly the ad was not aimed at people of Apfel’s age but the 25-35

bracket. Apfel’s role is not to play the mature woman but to embody cool creativity. This

doesn’t mean her age is a coincidence. The makers describe her as a ‘disruptor’. People of

her age are so invisible in advertising that her mere presence carries enough impact to

garner attention for a small-budget and otherwise uninteresting video ad.

G: Don’t forget that we are SOMETIMES in the ads for walk in baths, stair lifts, hearing aids,

incontinence products, care homes, trousers with elasticated waists, and other elements of

the supposed retired people’s lifestyle, although these apply to only one element of our

demographic. Also, quite often an older person is not considered suitable even for this field,

and the person smiling beside the walk in bath appears to be about 35!

R: Well, Perhaps the use of Apfel heralds a change within the industry this decade. The 2011

Toyota Venza ad, this time aimed at mature consumers, cleverly turns stereotypes on their

head in a way that might better capture the experiences of those 60 and over.

G: It would be good if more adverts aimed at us were made like this, i.e. witty in a way we

appreciate, and showing us in a positive light. We really like being appreciated for who we

are, as intelligent and involved as we have always been. We know when we are being

‘talked down to’, either in person, in the press, or in adverts. Yes, we know we will all be

REALLY old one day, and perhaps when we get there we will need more care and time from