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I agree with you.

When you make comparisons of total numbers of any particular group compared to the total of people in the US you will find the blacks are present in the teen digits (I think I remember 13%) yet when you count the total number of ads with people in them, you will find the blacks and other minorities combined far exceed the percentage number of whites no matter how you make the comparisons.

I made this type of comparison for older women v older men in terms of their representation in the total population of the US, then in terms of their representation in the ads in consumer magazines (Walmart check out mags)). I was looking for models with at least one wrinkle on their face. Less than 1% of all models of either sex in all “family” magazines were 60 yo or older. YET, who spends the money?

This type of marginalization is becoming critical for Elders in the US as that very marginalization is substantially increasing the total cost of medical care, for example, of people who are supporting medical care costs (no matter how they are doing it). The Elderly tend to be warehoused in substandard facilities overseen by substandardly trained caregivers of every variety.

I am not sure what the solution is but beginning with the expectation that many elderly are cared about by their kids and family members, perhaps having small group homes near some family might be better than warehousing.

Or do our kids really not like us as we age? I have some thoughts on that, too. I’d like to see a study done on how kids see their inheritance of the parents goods and money influences the kids decision to assist the elderly. It might be a shocker .

I don’t know. I have seen my parents with a great long life, well funded by SS and using what must be thousands and thousands of times the Medicare services that they ever paid into the system. Just lost my father, but mom is having a grand time in assisted living. Good food and friends, great care, and multiple daily activities.

But people don’t want to grow old, so it is not surprising that advertisers generally associate their products with youth. Also, people tend to be in their peak buying years in midlife, but they make a lot of brand commitments ahead of that, giving advertisers reason to skew even younger. And the younger you go the more diverse the population. Also, even going back decades ago, middle-class black men represented in commercials elicited warmth and sympathy across the board. So yet another reason to go in that direction. Finally, as Christian beliefs fade among the younger generations, political virtue signalling becomes something of a religious call to them as well. Yet another reason for such advertising.