Having turned the big seven-o this year, I have become acutely aware of a little thing called "age bias," primarily in the form of advertising. The 2 biggest offenders are fast food chains and cell phones. Watch any McDonalds commercial, or a commercial for Wendys, Burger King, etc,, and one would to the conclusion that either no one over the age of twenty-one visits fast food restaurants, or middle-aged and senior citizens have all been sent to detention camps.
Cell phone companies like Apple and Samsung, and phone services such as Verizon and T-Mobil are also big discriminators. View any of their commercials and one gets the impression that no one over the age of 25 owns a cell phone. All you see are college-age kids laughing, running, jumping and dancing. They either really love their phones and service, or they have prescriptions for medical marijuana.
These ads irk the hell out of me because they ignore an entire customer base. Walk into any McDonalds in the morning and you will likely see a few booths and tables filled with seniors, not to mention the ones who may be employed there. As for cell phones, I personally don't know anyone between the ages of 50 and 80 who doesn't own a cell phone. Many people in that age bracket are still gainfully employed as lawyers, doctors, execs and entrepaneurs, and certainly have a need for cell phones. But judging fronm the ads, once you get past college age, you drop off the face of the earth.
The magical age for advertisers is the 18 to 54 age group. Everybody wants to sell them something. But here is the irony of that concept. The biggest percentage of this country's wealth by age group is held by senior citizens. Surprised? Only a minority of us live Social Security check to Social Security check, or are forced to eat dog food.
So to Mickey D's and Apple, I say wake the fuck up and stop treating seniors like non-entities, or else we will sell our shares of your stock, and you'll be scrounging around for "dollar meals."
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