Age may be the context, but life is the narrative
They might not all be skateboarding or rock climbing but, asks Mick Mahoney, Creative Partner at Harbour Collective, why does the industry continue to stereotype old people? They aren't all the same. They're not staring wistfully into the middle distance, yearning for the past. They still like sex and, in general, they're having a better time than you.
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There are 12 million people over the age of 65 in the UK. That same 12 million spend more on make-up, more on fashion, more on going out, cars, culture and lifestyle brands than any other age group.
Basically, they’re spending far more on having a good time than you are. Learning this was something of a wake-up call when Harbour first started working with McCarthy Stone (the UK’s largest builder of retirement apartments and houses) to redevelop their brand, over two years ago.
Why do you rarely, if ever, see lifestyle, fashion or make-up ads featuring older faces in the glossies or on TV?
So, why do you rarely, if ever, see lifestyle, fashion or make-up ads featuring older faces in the glossies or on TV? There are exceptions of course, but they are few and far between. And even then, they are never represented as they really are. People who happen to be lucky enough to have reached older age and are just going about their lives, hanging out with their mates, doing the things that they enjoy and, quite often, have always enjoyed.
Above: Old people aren't all wearing autumnal colours and gazing wistfully through windows into the middle distance.
Mistakenly, advertisers define older people by their age, rather than as the doctors, dreamers, dancers, divas, mums and dads that they are. They’re just normal people who happen to have grown older. The issue stems from decades - possibly centuries - of older people in culture being depicted as one of two stereotypes. Firstly, the needy, doddering old curmudgeon. And, secondly, the spunky, over-achieving ball of energy. Both are deeply patronising. They don’t want a round of applause any more than they want to be treated like a child.
These two stereotypes render older people as two-dimensional cut out, to be pitied or celebrated. Think about it for a moment; how many characters from film, TV, fiction or advertising can you name that don’t fit into one of these two jelly moulds? One, maybe two?
[Old people] do a lot of waiting, and are fixated on the old days. What they were. What they did. When life was happier. Easier. Sunnier. Ahhh, bless. You warm enough, Nan? Don’t worry, she can’t hear you, poor old love.
Let’s look a little more closely at the first stereotype. Dressed in dowdy, autumnal colours, white haired, melancholic and tinged with regret. Life has passed them by. Often depicted bathed in sterile lighting that evokes a faint whiff of Dettol or Coal Tar soap. Usually seen as rather troublesome background characters. Typically gazing through windows into the middle distance. They do a lot of waiting, and are fixated on the old days. What they were. What they did. When life was happier. Easier. Sunnier. Ahhh, bless. You warm enough, Nan? Don’t worry, she can’t hear you, poor old love.
Now, as is often the case with stereotypes, there is a grain of truth in this. But, certainly, it’s something of a rarity amongst people in their 60s and 70s and, increasingly, in their 80s. Older people aren’t all the same age, by the way. What is far more common is millions of older people still out there enjoying their passions, interests and peccadilloes. Just like you. Still excited about their future, still aspirational, still having fun. On their own terms.
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Above: It may be deployed in a well-meaning fashion, but while old people are not all complaining curmudgeons, nor are they all adrenaline junkies.
So, when it comes to representing them, don’t be such a prude. They aren’t. They’re into all kinds of things that you imagine they wouldn’t be. Sex. Flirting. News. The future. Fashion. Sport. Music. Medication. Make-up. Cocktails. Nights Out. Friends. Films. Technology. Adventure. Travel.
This is beautifully summed up by a quote from an article in Psychology Today by Susan Scarf Merrell: “I know how old I am. I’m not in denial about the fact of the years. I simply reject the fears, stereotypes, and caricatures of ageing. If you ask me my age, I’ll tell you, but I don’t think it’s the most relevant fact about me.”
Imagine if the only time your age group was rendered in culture it was as a larger than life extreme-achiever. Wouldn’t you start to think that perhaps advertisers or film makers didn’t really understand you?
The second stereotype appears at first glance to be the lesser of the two evils. And I’m sure it’s deployed in a well-meaning fashion. But it is nevertheless equally as pernicious, because it represents another unrealistic extreme. It is tempting to think that you should be celebrating lives like these, but resist. It’s not helpful. Not everyone over 65 base jumps. Nor do they wish to. Imagine if the only time your age group was rendered in culture it was as a larger than life extreme-achiever. Wouldn’t you start to think that perhaps advertisers or film makers didn’t really understand you?
Don’t celebrate older people. Normalise them. Normalise their behaviours. Their hopes and aspirations. Their desires. Their activities. They aren’t being marvellous any more than you are being marvellous for doing whatever you enjoy doing. Next time you’re casting for an ad or a film, forget age as your start point. Instead list the characteristics you’re looking for. Try making their age the last criteria.
I’ll leave you with my favourite quote on old age from Germaine Greer that will hopefully stay with you as a simple prompt: “No two people age the same way”.
