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Through the Lens of Aging—Is Perception Always Reality?

Careful grandfather helping kid with home assignment

When you see an advertisement that includes an older person, what are the messages you receive? Are they messages of strength or weakness? Messages of empowerment or in need of assistance? Messages of society’s relevant members or the isolated?

In my experience, the vast majority of marketing to persons over 50 is not positive—with the bright exception of AARP and other allies. So, if these messages are shaping how the rest of society sees “us,” how do we challenge those generalizations?

Social think tank Encore.org began the Generation to Generation movement to face this stereotyping head-on, with three main priorities:

  • Amplify a unique intergenerational model using adults age 50+ to encourage and enrich the lives of at-risk youth, and vice versato
  • Accelerate successful education equity efforts providing all youth—regardless of race, gender or zip code—with tools for academic success and life skills, then
  • Scale this movement to Push society to think differently so it acts differently

Read more of this article in the March 2018 issue of AgeWise King County (click here) …