Anyway, ToolGod sent me this video (as before, contact me if you own it and wish me to pull it) and it fits so nicely with Sweetness' Men Drivers clip that I wanted to share it with you.
For those who don't wish to view the video, an elderly couple are driving down a road. The woman, in the passenger's seat, finds a steering wheel and begins to make believe she's driving. They pass a younger gentleman and, as she comes abreast of him and still with the steering wheel in her hands, sneers at him and turns the wheel into his car.
Remember, her steering wheel isn't attached to anything steering the car.
The young fellow goes off the road attempting to avoid a crash. This is an ad and the makers' logo comes on as the screen fades to black.
Yes, I laughed. No, I'm not in either demographic. But I do appreciate that this ad will touch lots of people and will especially touch older people, people too old to be considered Boomers because this ad is for a generation that (I believe) is fading away. Aging Boomers are carrying with them a very large demographic and that translates into buying power and that translates into marketers paying attention.
For example, have you noticed how many ads there are for Boomer ailments? Did you even know some of these ailments existed? Osteo-this and that, weak bladder, can't sleep, ED, aspirin-a-day, ... I didn't know what rough shape I was in until I saw all these ads. How about super lightweight lawn mowers and motorized wheelbarrows? Cellphones with no special features and extra big buttons?
Yes, some of these are available because of changes in technology and that, in part, goes to my point. My parents and grandparents weren't part of a large enough demographic for companies to go after them the way they go after, Boomers and all those products I mentioned are targeted to the aging Boomer demographic.
I'm sorry that there's a generation fading away. I'm hoping my generation's progeny reproduces wisely. If not, they will represent a fading generation when their time comes. There won't be enough of them to be a significant demographic and no companies will care about them. They won't know what diseases they have, they'll have to push heavy lawnmowers and get help using wheelbarrows, and learn to dial their cellphones by touch because the buttons will be too small for them to see.
Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics.
I'll be speaking at the San Francisco April '07 Emetrics Summit on Quantifying and Optimizing the Human Side of Online Marketing on May 7, 2007. Come on by and say hello.
Comment Preview