Introduction
Regarding the social topic and form of media, I decided to examine how television advertising addresses age. The focus is on two specific commercials: one for Viagra, a sexual enhancement drug for men, and one for Colonial Penn life insurance. Many other commercials directly appeal to older consumers, but these two seem to reflect appeals common in advertising focusing on middle-aged people and the elderly. What I came away with was a strong sense of bias, and of kinds going to both flattering and frightening older people. As the following reveals, the two commercials for Viagra and life insurance play to ideas of older people as “desperate” in a sense, and in actual need of the products if they are to be seen as having any value in modern society, and to their loved ones.
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Commercial One
The commercial for Viagra clearly emphasizes ruggedness and masculinity. The background music is Country Western, and the opening footage reveals a man of late middle-age, in cowboy clothing, hauling a trailer through the mud in the open country. The narration begins, “You’ve reached the age where you don’t back down from a challenge,” and then goes on to ask why any such man would allow erectile dysfunction to “get in his way.” As this is spoken, the man deal with the truck’s being stalled in the mud; looking calm and capable, he takes the team of horses from the trailer to pull the truck out, indicating how he is capable of handling difficult situations. Completely successful, he literally rides off into the sunset, and the final shots are of him pulling into the driveway of a comfortable home or farmhouse. Visually, the entire commercial is framed in bluish tones, rather than normal color.
Several elements here go to an age bias, although it is one greatly linked to gender roles as well. On one level, and as the man is handling the problem, the narrator asserts, “This is the age of knowing how to make things happen.” Seconds later, “With every age comes responsibility” is heard. There are then three specific references to age, and the first two emphasize wisdom and ability as increased over the years. The implication is that any sexual issue is easily taken care of when a man recognizes that, as older, he has the experience to know to turn for assistance. The usage of the horses is then a metaphor for the drug; the man simply “takes” what he needs to get the job done. The further implication, and stressed by the last age reference, is that not taking such responsibility translates to letting age defeat you, and/or surrendering masculinity.
Maybe the most interesting aspect of the commercial, in fact, is that there is no direct image or suggestion of a woman as sexual partner. It is all about the man, and specifically the older man. Consequently, this is an ad that makes appeals to male ego in the traditional sense. The man who has any sexual issues and does not take Viagra is not a real man any longer, and because he has allowed age to defeat him. It is further implied that the ability to have sex is essential to any true male identity, an implication all the more reinforced by the lack of a woman in the ad. While masculinity is very much an appeal here, it is then completely tied to a man’s need to remain fully masculine, strong, and capable as he grows older. In short, older men have a responsibility to remain virile, or they lose their value in the world.
Commercial Two
The Colonial Penn life insurance commercial centers on an older female neighbor meeting with a younger woman at the latter’s mailbox. The older woman is expressing sympathy for the passing of the other’s mother. The younger woman is then shocked that the Colonial Penn check has arrived already, and she mentions how badly she needs this to meet the final expenses of her mother’s death. The women talk about this as guaranteed coverage for those aged 50 to 85, and that there are no medical exams. There is a very strong emphasis on how no one can be denied, and how the premiums can never change. The younger woman then expresses how this insurance gave her mother peace of mind. The narration discusses how the average cost of a funeral far exceeds Social Security benefits, and the older woman is increasingly convinced that she requires this additional coverage
My impression of this commercial is that a direct appeal to fear is being made, or the desire to create fear in the senior population. Fear is identified in advertising as a more effective persuasive tool on older audiences, likely because age brings greater concerns regarding health (Borchers 305). Here, the younger woman represents the generation that will be burdened by expenses if the older people do not take precautions. The older woman is in a sense the “audience,” who must be convinced of this responsibility of senior citizens. If she fails to get the insurance, she will likely create problems for her own children. Based on this appeal, then, the woman who is dead exists only in terms of her having left no issues behind her; her claim to being remembered well, or with love, relies on this financial foresight. It is important to recall how the insurance gave her “peace of mind” while she was alive because the clear implication is that a failure to do this would be grossly irresponsible. The message is then one reminding the elderly that their value is conditional. They may expect love and respect only as long as they cause no problems when they die. As the older woman is increasingly persuaded to buy the insurance for herself, there is also real urgency here.
Conclusion
As noted, many commercials make a variety of appeals to senior citizens. Some flatter, but most seem to rely on fear as the main instrument of persuasion. To an extent, this is the case with the Viagra commercial, because it suggests that a man’s worth as he ages relies on his ability to be powerful and handle difficult situations. The implication is that his not being so will equate to his losing his masculinity and his value as a man, and he will then be only an “old man.” Fear s much more directly employed in the insurance commercial, despite the gentle, neighborhood setting and conversation. As with the Viagra ad, nothing overt is expressed, but the main idea is that the old person who does not have coverage for their funeral expenses is the old person who will be resented by their children as a burden, so life value is completely based on financial preparation. Ultimately, the commercials for Viagra and life insurance rely on ideas of older people as “desperate” in a sense, and in real need of the products if they are to be seen as having any value in modern society, and to their loved ones.
- Borchers, Timothy. Persuasion in the Media Age, 3rd Ed. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 2012. Print.
