Thursday, March 4, 2010

Are Advertisers focusing on the young too much and ignoring the older crowd?

There are some interesting articles floating around about who the super bowl commercial advertisers were marketing to. Focusing the commercials on the younger audience may be a mistake for several reasons.

In terms of spendable income, the 49 and over crowd has more than double the spending capital as those under 49. Does it make sense to focus so much attention on the younger crowd when many have learned how to digitally copy stuff for free?

Does it make sense to make a cool, but gross commercial that will not interest the older crowd, but will make the younger crowd laugh for a moment in between beer belches? Can the older people be the clever ones once in a while?

Has the youth wave gone too far? To be on American Idol, you have to be 28 years old or younger. Yet Mr. Pants on the Ground started a sensation, and he looks a tad older than 28 years old. (there is a 30 sec commercial before the video starts).

How about an American Elder show, or American Middlin. What could be more meaningful than discovering a mid 40's or mid 50's (or older) singer who gave up their career so they could raise a family or just be a responsible bread winner? Would it be so awful if a message that you can have a hit record later in life be such a bad message to send?

Saturday Night Live is usually hosted by younger people, what about Betty White and Abe Vigoda Co-hosting a show? I bet the ratings would spike beyond Saturday Night Live's wildest expectations. There's even a facebook group dedicated to getting Betty White to host Saturday Night Live.

How about a reality TV show starring Jack LaLanne and his wife Elaine? Of course such a show would be fascinating. Mr. LaLanne is an inspiration to people 70 years younger than his 90 plus years, what is wrong with Hollywood? Who are these experts that are too afraid to go for the old?

I guess they're the same people that went with Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton because Barack Obama was a younger candidate, and that has cost of us all dearly. When will we learn?

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

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