American folk artist Grandma Moses didn't paint her first painting until she was seventy-eight years old (Wikipedia, 2022), proving that the quote above by Indian actress Madhuri Dixit is not only wise, but also true. Sadly, the advertising industry hasn't always conveyed that "age is just a number" in its marketing strategies. On the contrary, advertisers have often relied upon unfair stereotypes of the elderly in their commercials. The leading cause of ageism in marketing is the creators of that marketing. Sixty percent of advertising professionals are under the age of forty-five (Rocks, 2020). The misrepresentation of the elderly in marketing contributes to ageism in The United States. The commercials below represent two comical, but ageist, commercials from the 1980s and early 2000s, contrasted with an impactful IKEA commercial that demonstrates well that our age is not a limitation.
This infographic by www.btigmafree.org identifies ageism and offers approaches to prevent it (Fast Facts, n.d.)
This Wendy's commercial from the 1980s embraces multiple unfair stereotypes of the elderly. The first stereotype perpetuated in this commercial is that the elderly are bad drivers, while the opposite is actually the case. Older drivers are LESS likely to have an accident (J.,2022). The second unfair stereotype being conveyed here is that the elderly are cantankerous. In reality, people over fifty are more likely to be happier than their younger counterparts (It's Time to, n.d.).
In 2014, Esurance began airing this commercial that is a misrepresentation of elderly women as being frugal, grumpy, and technologically illiterate. However, just the year before this advertisement aired, in 2013, thirty-nine million senior citizens in The United States were using social media (S.,2022)
Slight Nudity
This 2014 IKEA commercial from Spain challenges the stereotype of lonely and grumpy old men who have nothing to do all day every day but feed pigeons. While two of the men in this commercial represent these stereotypes, the main character of this commercial shatters them by leaving the comfort of his bench and adventuring around the world, telling its audience that "you're never too young to start something new."
