Activism & Advocacy

Is this the most Ageist Ad of all time?

By Senior Planet Monday, November 5, 2018 10 Comments Share This:

Adweek called this a “Comically Savage” election PSA series; but there’s nothing comic about it. This ad series tries to scare Millennials into voting by portraying older people, who vote in much higher numbers, as greedy, selfish monsters. Read about the series and watch the ads here.

At a time when our society is more divided than ever, this series is despicable on so many levels we’ve lost count. Every tired cliche about older people…and some new ones…are on display. All this feeds into a very real and very unhealthy generational dynamic, as this article suggests.

The fact that a group of professionals decided this, of all approaches, was the best way to encourage younger people to vote is appalling…as if older people don’t have children and grandchildren they love and have no stake in the future. This divisive ad series for Hulu, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat feeds into a disturbing narrative to, unbelieveably, disenfranchise older people by removing their right to vote at say, 70. We are not making this up.

This sort of campaign is, sadly, just the most recent example of ageism creeping into every aspect of modern life. Luckily, there’s some help online to combat it.

Oldschool.info, the brainchild of anti-agism activist and author Ashton Applewhite, is a new online clearinghouse of free and carefully vetted resources (like Senior Planet) to educate people about ageism and help dismantle it.

The goal, the Oldschool.info website says, is to help catalyze a movement to make ageism (discrimination on the basis of age) as unacceptable as any other kind of prejudice.

If you have an ageism-related resource (an organization, a website, a blog, etc.) to contribute to Old School – not about positive aging or productive aging or healthy aging or conscious aging or creative aging, but explicitly focused on ageism – please visit the webpage and scroll down to Messages to share it.

COMMENTS

10 responses to “Is this the most Ageist Ad of all time?”

Amy Epstein:

Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 3:12pm

Thanks for calling out the underlying ageist message in this ad!

Reply to Amy Epstein
Stuart Dunn:

Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 6:12pm

I’d appreciate it if someone could explain the “beauty” of growing old. The only thing I can offer (and I am 89 years old) is that we see our children and grandchildren grow into adults, and that (hopefully) we retain reasonable health and mental faculties so as to be able to enjoy our relationships. I chose: youth, energy, health, romantic love and relevance. If this is ageism, so be it; I call it honesty.

Reply to Stuart Dunn
1. G C:
  
  Sunday, March 24, 2019 at 7:49pm
  
  At 62 I am healthier then most 40 year old people. Life is what you make it. There are disadvantages to all age groups. Targeting older or mature people as some sort of target is as wrong as any other group. There is beauty in every stage of life. Just live it.
  
  Mature people can testify to many historical events first hand because they were there. That is one beautiful thing. They are not arm chair philosophers. they came by wisdom by living a long life. Not all old people there are fools in every stage of life.
  
  Making such an add is very hateful. But I get it it’s an agenda. No use for babies and old people. Pretty simple abortion & euthanasia! The dream world of the elitist liberal ideals.
  
  Reply to G C
alston green:

Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 10:40am

Of course, this ad was not produced by Senior Planet. This ad is offensive Ad is a huge lie. I worked the polls 11/6 here in NYC and it was a wonderful turnout. I was thrilled to see so many young people (many millennials) voting for the first time. at my polling site, we saw more people than in any other election I’ve worked there. I encourage all young people to get involved in the political process as their future is at stake!! I applaud all the young folks I encountered and hope they continue to make a difference to our political process.

Reply to alston green
1. GC:
  
  Sunday, March 24, 2019 at 8:06pm
  
  Here is more info on who produced this hateful and misleading ad plus the ad video. The people in it are ACTORS saying what the producers want them to say. it is clearly a political attack ad maligning the elderly and fear mongering. Is this why we see attacks on old people on the rise?
  https://www.adweek.com/creativity/this-comically-savage-election-psa-should-scare-every-millennial-into-voting-in-the-next-election/?fbclid=IwAR1pa4jxo1m_euLuUHyGixf76TXx3mbjgAr7iD0pgNaMQ4MLXafrELkpfhA
  
  Reply to GC
CARMEN BECKER:

Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at 3:27pm

TOO BAD THE AGENCY DOES NOT SEE THE BEAUTY OF GROWING OLD

Reply to CARMEN BECKER
Brian Long:

Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at 11:48am

As a mid-70 something person, I do not find this message divisive or disturbing. Truth can be hurtful; yet it’s truth.

Has anyone had their feathers in a tailspin about the plot in the 2011 novel, 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America? Same context. And kind of true to life.

Reply to Brian Long
Emily Lees:

Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at 10:27am

I have seen this ad and reacted against it on facebook. One thing I would like to see when you alert readers to ageist practices is a link to the guilty party, so that droves of us can write in protest. Otherwise, sharing them on sites devoted to “outing” ageism risks preaching to the choir, and sharing shameful examples on social media (as I have done, lack of a better resource) risks perpetuating the very attitude I am protesting.

Thanks!

Reply to Emily Lees
Mary Ward Caplan:

Monday, November 5, 2018 at 6:21pm

Mary Ward Caplan- Pitting one group against “the other” whomever THE OTHER may mean deeper divisions. What if we said vote because all these women are voting and they are balmy. Or say, black and brown people are voting and they are scary so you better get out there and vote. This is not handing over the reins but fostering isms and divisions. Dear God, tonight of all night we are trying to get out the message that ALL votes count.

Is Senior Planet responsible for this ad? If so, you owe all voters a big apology and we need to reconsider your advice

Reply to Mary Ward Caplan
1. Senior Planet:
  
  Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at 11:00am
  
  As noted in our post about this, this ad campaign was produced by an ad agency and NOT by Senior Planet; we would never ever produce such a divisive work.
  
  Reply to Senior Planet