Advertising to Senior Citizens the

¶ … Advertising to Senior Citizens The commercial media is responsible for luring in thousands of consumers for particular services or products. This is most successfully done through marketing to specific demographics with proven themes guaranteed to bring in numbers. In the 65 and older demographic, there are several constant themes which continually reoccur throughout product and service advertisements, as well as filtering into other forms of public messages.

Two of these themes which are most prevalent include the concept of protecting one's loved one's in future years and most recently made popular, the image of the active senior in a new form of retirement. The first major theme represents the desire for many seniors to protect one's assets and loved ones in case of an emergency or the inevitable. This has always been a major theme in insurance products, and has continued to move into other types of products and services as well.

Life insurance, bank products, and other types of insurance policies and agent services have always relied on using the theme of longevity of one's genealogy as part of each senior citizen's responsibility. Recently, in today's insecure economical times, this theme has become more prevalent in everyday life. Going beyond products and service advertising, more and more media outlets have also caught on to this theme.

Articles weighing out different bank policies and services, along with informing the general public of the importance of preparing for the inevitable have become more available to public consumers. These types of themes are important to gerontoligical social work because of their expression of a major fear for thousands of senior citizens. These individuals are reaching the end of their lives, and this is constantly regurgitated back to them in such advertising methods.

However scary this fact may be, the general and widespread acceptance of these ads represents a sense of understanding rather than pure fear. Regardless, this theme can be portrayed in both a negative and positive manner, depending on the sensitivity of the context. Yet, many ads lack such sensitivity and actually end up re-affirming every senior citizen's fears. The next important theme is that of enjoying retirement. This message is portrayed once again largely by banks selling various bank products.

However, recently companies promoting travel packages, and other types of consumer products have become another major facet of such reoccurring themes. This plays on the idea that each individual has worked hard his or her whole life, and should therefore be rewarded with freedom in retirement. This type of thematic representation has also occurred in major motion pictures and literature for years. Unlike the previous theme discussed, this theme represents a much brighter view of the lives of senior citizens.

This gives gerontological social work a much different perspective of a life outside of normal middle age working experiences. It also represents a shift in consciousness to a more youthful and free type of existence that every senior citizen would want, despite not being able to afford. Therefore, this theme is represented in a much more positive light than the.