Watchdog Says Older Audiences ‘Deserve Respect’ in Ads After Report Criticises Ageist Portrayals

Campaigners said older people are underrepresented in ads, but when they are featured, they are often depicted in ways that reinforce negative stereotypes.

A person browses a television menu showing icons for streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime in a photo illustration made in Toronto on March 22, 2024. The Canadian Press/Giordano Ciampini

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), the body responsible for writing the UK advertising code, said on Thursday that older audiences “deserve respect in ads” and advised advertisers to avoid ageist content.

CAP issued the advisory after its sister organisation, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), released a study on 19 June which found that older people felt “invisible” in mainstream advertising and were often reduced to stereotypes.

The ASA study involved focus groups and a survey of more than 4,000 adults and found that over a third, or 35 percent, of respondents agreed that older people tend to be negatively stereotyped in ads.

More than four in 10 people, or 44 percent, said older people are absent or underrepresented in mainstream adverts, such as those for technology, fashion and household products.

By comparison, older respondents have a perception that they are “bombarded” by ads for funeral services, care homes, and mobility aids, the ASA said in a summary report on the study.

While respondents recognised that targeted advertising may result in older consumers being exposed to these kinds of ads, they were concerned by the “volume and tone” of these “end-of-life” promotions, the ASA said.

The ASA, the UK’s independent regulator for advertising, said that while it was not looking to propose any new rules, the organisation hopes that advertisers would take heed of its findings.

Ageism

Katherine Crawshaw, the co-head of the Age Without Limits campaign at the Centre for Ageing Better, told The Epoch Times that she was “really pleased” to see the ASA’s findings and its recommendations for improving the depiction of older people and ageing.

Crawshaw said that generally, older people are underrepresented in advertising. She said that when they are featured in adverts, they often see themselves depicted in stereotypical ways which can reinforce negative perceptions of what it is like to grow older.

“This is ageism—and it can affect all the building blocks of life. From employment opportunities to health care, to socialising and how we see ourselves,” she said. “Advertising has such a powerful influence on society so we really hope the industry can help bring about an important societal change in views around ageing and be a force for good, as it has already been for changing other outdated perceptions. ”

It’s not just in adverts where older people are underserved, but on screen more broadly, she said.

Crawshaw cited the Cast Aside report, co-produced by the Centre for Ageing Better, which revealed that older characters are underrepresented in films, with there being only one in ten older characters involved in major plotlines.

“There remains a general reluctance to feature older characters as central to the plot of British films, with older characters, especially women, noticeably given less of a voice than younger characters and usually defined by their age rather than other characteristics such as their mental or physical abilities,” she said.

In February, the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) published a report which found that ageism was widespread and culturally embedded. The WEC said that ageist portrayals of older people are highly prevalent across the media, contributing to the normalisation of ageist attitudes.

Organisations like the charity Age UK have described ageism as the most common form of prejudice. The older adults membership organisation U3A has said that one in three people experience age-based prejudice or discrimination.

Changing Perceptions of Ageing

In its research, the ASA found that older people—which the watchdog defined as those over 55—are relatively positive about ageing and “feel growing ‘old’ today looks very different to previous generations.” People are living and staying active for longer and are continuing to contribute to their communities and the labour market.

Tony Watts, a cofounder of the Age Action Alliance, told The Epoch Times that he was not surprised by the ASA’s findings. He said that while some advertising agencies are improving in representing society, they still fall short in reflecting older age groups.

Watts said that as a result, advertisers are missing an opportunity to target a group of people who could be interested in their products.

Older people buy much of the same things that younger generations buy, “and if you’re going to appeal to that demographic, you’ve got to be age-inclusive,” he said.

Watts noted that while the ASA found plenty of adverts to criticise, it also highlighted some for praise—particularly those that focused on the person rather than their age, showing them in everyday settings and interacting with people of different ages. He said this was important because it helps to achieve clients’ objectives of attracting new customers, rather than isolating them.

“This is not just about appeasing older people. This is about doing a better job as an advertiser,” he said. “I think advertisers have got a duty—as well as an opportunity—to include older people as part of the narrative.”

Ageism in the Workplace

Crawshaw also emphasised that the issue of ageism in the workplace “is still a significant problem.”

She said that in previous Age Without Limits surveys of people who have experienced ageism, “the workplace was cited as the most common place they had been treated negatively because of their age.”

In one survey from January, Age Without Limits found that a “worryingly high” proportion of the country believes ageist myths about older workers, including 24 percent who think it does not make business sense to hire someone over 50 because they will be slow and unable to adapt.

Age Without Limits found the prevalence of ageist attitudes among those with the highest educational qualifications—the demographic most likely to make hiring decisions—concerning.

Watts said he has been writing about ageism in the workplace for decades, advising employers to recruit and train more older people, not just because that demographic is growing but because of the value a multigenerational workforce brings to a business.

He said, “A multigenerational workforce is a far more valuable thing than a single-generation workforce, because you’ve got that diversity of thought. You’ve got experience alongside the energy and ideas.”

One of the reasons he thinks older people may be struggling to get on in the workforce is that employers are reluctant to invest in training their older staff.

Watts said, “People have to keep re-skilling and upskilling. Those opportunities are invariably going to younger workers, because there’s this misconception that we need to keep the young people coming up through and also older people can’t learn stuff.”

He said ongoing professional development was particularly important with the increasing use of technology in the workspace, including AI.

“There’s no evidence that older people—given the right opportunity and the right training—can’t keep up with the younger people to recognise these changes and work with them,” Watts said.

A 2024 workplace training report by professional training and coaching firm Corndel said that despite more older people “unretiring” and staying in the workforce, there is a “pronounced generational training gap.”

The report stated that those aged 18 to 34 are more than twice as likely to receive training in critical skills as employees aged 55 and over (57 percent compared with 25 percent).

Corndel said this disparity “highlights the lack of organisations leveraging the untapped potential of their most seasoned employees.”

Similarly, Watts stressed, “Older people alongside younger people are a powerful, powerful force, and that’s what employers need to think about.”