Ageism and Marketing

At rhc advantage, one of our aims is improve relationships between older people and business. This is of course fundamental to all of the work we do and central to what marketing is all about.

It’s also why we actively support AGE UK (the new name for Age Concern and Help the Aged) and its aim of improving the lives of older people. We do this through our membership and role as business partners of their Engage Business Network and a commitment to contribute a percentage of our fee income to the charity.

We have also decided to take a stand against ageism wherever we encounter it in the business and marketing worlds. Ageism in the UK is a cultural given – for a number of reasons, age and ageing are seen as unattractive and undesirable. For this reason, images of age and ageing tend to be avoided – employment practices in marketing and advertising favour younger people, as do the images used in advertising and marketing communications. Both facts are well documented – but that’s for another day. However, let’s be clear that they represent the most glaring examples of ageism in marketing.

It's not much, but our starting point is to write ’angry of Tunbridge Wells’ type letters to the media. Here’s an example, from February this year. This concerns ‘The Marketer’, the official magazine of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. This is an organisation which styles itself as ‘the leading international professional marketing body’, so how it deals with these issues is significant.

The article in question took a fairly routine story about cognitive testing amongst the over-50s by an insurance company. It then proceeded to give it the full tabloid treatment. Here’s what they published:

Geriatric gaming
Gaming grandparents could cut back on car insurance thanks to a scheme from Allstate insurance. More than 100,000 Pennsylvania pensioners are using brain-building video games to test the effects of cognitive training on driving safety. The games use InSight video software from Posit Science designed to reverse dodderiness and improve the visual skills needed for safe driving. Positive results will mean discounts from Allstate for older drivers who game to stay sharp.

It is worth noting that the source for this piece (www.springwise.com) did not use the derogatory terms and stereotypes applied by ‘The Marketer’, such as ‘geriatric’, ‘dodderiness’, ‘grandparents’ and ‘pensioners’. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that it was the editorial judgement of ‘The Marketer’ to reduce the piece to a sniggering, puerile laugh at the expense of people aged over 50. Just another piece of casual ageism.

I contacted the Editor, who did not see my point at all. It was just a piece of fun. The fact that some people aged over 50 are doddery, pensioners and grandparents justified the piece, in her view. However, Ray Jones, the highly-regarded Head of Communications for the CIM, immediately 'got it' and made space for me to make my point in the next edition, which went to press that evening. I won't reproduce it here, as you can probably guess the points I made.

We will continue to be vigilant. Watch this space!