Ads today often skip over baby boomers

Chuck Nyren is feeling abandoned. It’s not about friends or loved ones. He thinks he’s being ignored by advertising.

A baby boomer of 54, Nyren believes the world of advertising has written off his generation.

“What’s happening now, advertising agencies are pretty much run by kids in their 20s and early 30s,” said Nyren, an ad industry consultant who lives in Snohomish.

“The general rule of thumb is that the best advertising is written to sell to yourself. The wrong people are doing it for the 50-plus markets,” he said.

That, in a nutshell, is the message in Nyren’s book “Advertising to Baby Boomers” (Paramount Market Publishing, Inc., 2005).

It’s not my habit to read or write about business books, but this one caught my attention.

I’m three years younger than Nyren. I remember those stodgy Geritol commercials he writes about, and I agree with his dim view of Cadillac now using Led Zeppelin to pitch a car I wouldn’t want in the first place.

Nyren has been in the ad business more than 30 years and has done work for Microsoft and numerous Seattle-based agencies. A native New Yorker whose mother was a copywriter and father an ad agency executive, he said he was a “true Madison Avenue baby.”

An observant baby boomer, he contends advertising gets our generation all wrong, either ignoring us or making us out to be silly or stupid.

“Saying that will make me about as welcome in an advertising agency as Michael Moore at the Republican convention. I’m saying they don’t have the right people to do the job,” he said.

Ignoring the biggest and richest demographic takes money out of the client’s pocket, he said. The product producers lose out, and we boomers don’t get the information we want in order to choose those products.

Nyren writes that this year, 38 million baby boomers are 50 or older, that we make up 35 percent of the population, have 60 percent of the discretionary income and control more than 65 percent of the nation’s wealth.

Even when another age group is targeted, Nyren said it’s foolish to alienate a secondary market. As an example, he mentioned a TV ad for a Web-based vacation and hotel service.

A young woman is looking for a hotel for her parents. She clicks on a link to “ultramodern.” In her mind, her folks get to the hotel but can’t figure out a Space Age chair. In the bathroom, her father can’t figure out the push buttons and manages to turn on the shower, soaking his wife’s clothes.

The spot is doubly insulting. Older adults are clueless about finding a hotel online, and then can’t figure out the room. In truth, we boomers are more likely the ones who can afford fancy hotel rooms, thank you very much.

Another stereotype is that boomers are hellbent on holding onto youth. “Most of us are not trying to be 30. We are redefining what it is to be 50,” he said.

Does anyone get it right? Nyren said he’s been asked that many times. His answer is New Balance, the shoe company.

“New Balance does a pretty good job targeting people over 40,” he said. “They market their running shoes, tennis shoes or just casual shoes as being involved in a meaningful, holistic lifestyle. Their ads have very little to do with competition and being the best. They’re more about the rewards.”

Nike, with its “Just do it” slogan, is very youth-oriented, he added. “New Balance went in the other direction. They sell lots of shoes to people over 40. Those shoes come in different widths, because our feet change.”

Feet aren’t the only body parts that change with age, but Nyren sees boomers as aging gracefully. As consumers, he said we deserve more attention.

“We’re an unwieldy, varied, complex social group,” he writes. “We’ve lived through interesting times. We’re living through interesting times again.”

Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Cars move across Edgewater Bridge toward Everett on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, in Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edgewater Bridge redo linking Everett, Mukilteo delayed until mid-2024

The project, now with an estimated cost of $27 million, will detour West Mukilteo Boulevard foot and car traffic for a year.

Lynn Deeken, the Dean of Arts, Learning Resources & Pathways at EvCC, addresses a large gathering during the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Cascade Learning Center on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Everett Community College in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
New EvCC learning resource center opens to students, public

Planners of the Everett Community College building hope it will encourage students to use on-campus tutoring resources.

Everett Police Chief Dan Templeman announces his retirement after 31 years of service at the Everett City Council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett police chief to retire at the end of October

Chief Dan Templeman announced his retirement at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. He has been chief for nine years.

Boeing employees watch the KC-46 Pegasus delivery event  from the air stairs at Boeing on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Boeing’s iconic Everett factory tour to resume in October

After a three-year hiatus, tours of the Boeing Company’s enormous jet assembly plant are back at Paine Field.

A memorial for a 15-year-old shot and killed last week is set up at a bus stop along Harrison Road on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Teen boy identified in fatal shooting at Everett bus stop

Bryan Tamayo-Franco, 15, was shot at a Hardeson Road bus stop earlier this month. Police arrested two suspects.

Lynnwood
Fatal 2-car crash closes Highway 99 in Lynnwood

Police closed off Highway 99 between 188th Street SW and 196th Street SW while they investigated.

Mike Bredstrand, who is trying to get back his job with Lake Stevens Public Works, stands in front of the department’s building on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Lake Stevens, Washington. Bredstrand believes his firing in July was an unwarranted act of revenge by the city. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Lake Stevens worker was fired after getting court order against boss

The city has reportedly spent nearly $60,000 on attorney and arbitration fees related to Mike Bredstrand, who wants his job back.

Chap Grubb, founder and CEO of second-hand outdoor gear store Rerouted, stands inside his new storefront on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in Gold Bar, Washington. Rerouted began as an entirely online shop that connected buyers and sellers of used gear.  (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Used outdoor gear shop Rerouted finds a niche in Gold Bar

Seeking to keep good outdoor gear out of landfills, an online reselling business has put down roots in Gold Bar.

Naval Station Everett. (Chuck Taylor / Herald file)
Everett man sentenced to 6 years for cyberstalking ex-wife

Christopher Crawford, 42, was found guilty of sending intimate photos of his ex-wife to adult websites and to colleagues in the Navy.

Most Read