An advertisement for a calcium dietary supplement, recently seen in numerous national magazines, depicts a woman's silhouette frame by frame as she moves rightward across a page. She is apparently aging before our eyes, growing progressively older and more stooped as she succumbs to osteoporosis. By the last frame she needs the support of a cane.

Another ad, obviously directed to the over-50 age group, pictures a stereotypical white-haired old lady leaning out of a car window and holding a glass of dark liquid. The headline reads: 'Prune Power To Go." Accompanying copy describes the virtues of a prune product in dealing with a failing digestive system.

Both ads reflect the lack of respect and fear of aging – in short, the ageism – typical of the media's treatment of older people. For years, until The Golden Girls and Murder, She Wrote began to buck the trend, advertising and entertainment media alike reflected the prevailing stereotype of seniors as bumbling, crotchety or senile. With perpetual frowns on their faces, the older people in shows and commercials lived only to criticize younger people and nurse their aches and pains.

These advertisements have something else in common. Neither would be accepted for the advertising schedule of Modern Maturity. Although only formulated in 1982, our extremely strict advertising policy is rooted in Modern Maturity's history as a major communication arm of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

Staying Active

Founded in 1958 by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, a retired teacher and high school principal who also formed the National Retired Teachers Association and AARP, the magazine's positive, enlightened tone toward aging reflects her emphasis on urging older Americans to be active in society, to be committed to the future and to lead lives of independence, dignity and purpose. As the most prominent magazine for seniors, and now the largest circulation magazine in the United States, Modern Maturity has long recognized that its readers, all 19.4 million of them, comprise a vital and productive segment of our population.

"Instead of a message that says, 'I feel terrible, give me product X,' we welcome ads that say, 'I feel great with product X.'"
– Modern Maturity advertising standards

Older people are not a homogeneous group. They are as economically, socially and politically diverse as any other segment of our population, comprising sick and well, rich and poor, dynamic and depressed, all stripes of society, and they deserve to be portrayed that way, not shown as stuck in the mud, or in a wheelchair, or rocking and whittling, when in fact some may be rocking and rolling. Today, when we go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house, Grandma may not be awaiting us sweetly with a big plate of cookies fresh from the oven. She may be working on the computer, or taking a psychology class, or holding down the late shift at the cannery.

As a general interest publication, Modern Maturity is written for, not about, this diverse and energetic elderly population. Issues crammed full of lavishly illustrated articles on current affairs, travel, art, health, fitness, literature and personal finance reflect the variety and breadth of this age group's interests. This positive outlook is mirrored in our advertising.

In keeping with our long-term editorial philosophy are the strictest advertising guidelines of any publication we've heard of. In fact, the magazine's advertising department turns down 35 to 40 percent of the ads submitted for publication, mostly because we consider them downers, or ageist, or because the ad message tends to pigeonhole older people in some way.

For example, ads for wheelchairs, back braces, tub lifts, page magnifiers and many other products whose makers aim "to remedy the aches and pains of aging" are forbidden. The reasoning? Aging is not necessarily about aches and pains. Aging is about living.

The guidelines also focus on ad layouts and art; we try to persuade advertisers to make ads aimed at the older population as attractive and appealing as those directed at any other age group. Luckily for us, many advertisers are seeing the point and working with us. Unfortunately, many of the image creators in the media and at the ad agencies haven't caught on yet. They still imagine older people as old coots and crones, deaf to today's reality and lost in mumblings of the good old days of Calvin Coolidge – or immersed in their physical complaints. Most ad people haven't picked upon the dramatic demographic revolution that's taking place in our country. Truly, we are witnessing a change as profound as the one that shook America 25 years ago, when baby boomers started flexing their economic muscle.

At the last turn of the century, people over 65 made up about four percent of the population– around 3.1 million out of 75 million. The median age of the population then was just under 23 years. Today there are more than 30 million Americans over the age of 65, representing 12.1 percent of the population. Thus, while the general population has about tripled in size, the group over 65 has increased nearly tenfold. It is the fastest-growing segment of the American population.

"People age 50 and over represent a huge, many-faceted public, which to many advertisers represents a new target market spanning (depending on how you view it) three or four generations of men and women, every ethnic group and income level and all walks of life."
– Modern Maturity advertising standards

Modern Maturity is upbeat about older people, and as part of AARP is trying hard to educate everyone about the realities and opportunities of aging. To help educate advertisers, the magazine has created and distributed guidelines for How To Advertise to Maturity (see below). Its goal is to help develop positive advertising communications to people age 50 and over. We dedicated it to "understanding the millions of mature Americans who are active, involved and eager for new experiences."

In contrast to the advertisements described at the beginning of this article, one ad that we recently accepted with great delight pictured a sleek white convertible Mustang. It looks like almost any other automobile advertisement until the reader hits the tag line: "Just when the kids had you all figured out." Now that's a refreshing line. Another ad that could have been mundane, but wasn't, sports the headline "Cure baldness." The visual pictures two vanilla ice cream cones– one naked, the other with a sprinkling of wheat germ. It's a funny and inspiring way to suggest that readers eat more wheat germ to promote good health.

As the population ages, many members of the media may find, as we have, that respect for the humanity of the aging makes good business sense. But much more importantly, they will also find that they can enrich the stories their commercials and programs tell by recognizing the humanity and diversity of older characters. For whether or not it is true that "growing older is growing better," it is clear that people don't lose individuality as they grow older. Instead, they become ever more themselves, and that is one of the beauties of age.

How to Advertise to Maturity

• Don't make a long story short: older people like to have plenty of product information on which to make a decision.
• Take 15 years, at least, off your target age group: people tend to report that they feel younger than their chronological age.
• Don't put them all on a diet: most older people eat the same foods as anyone else, and many have cooked nutritious food for years.
• Keep a sense of humor: more time to relax means more time to smile.
• Don't take the romance out of life: there may be more time for it.
• Plan for their future: life is continuing, not rushing toward its close.