AARP Uses Body Bags to Get Media Planners' Attention

Dude, I'm Not Dead Yet!

Frustrated by agency's disregard for the 50 plus demo, the AARP has launched a trade print campaign featuring healthy looking 50 year olds in body bags at crime scenes. The ads include the taglines "these days, doctors don't pronounce you dead - marketers do" and "to most marketers, consumers die the minute they turn 50." The campaign, called "Written Off," will include a direct mail component made up of sympathy cards with copy, "Sorry for your loss... and for missing out on over $400 billion worth of disposable income."

The campaign is an effort to get those who plan where advertising dollars are spent, mostly in their 20's and 30's, to realize they are missing half of the entire population by not marketing to older demos.