When I Grow Up- Kaiser Permanente Ad
Want to feel like a woman and recapture your youth...again at the age of 65+? Get a mammogram and it'll do the trick. This commercial advertises one of the medical benefits the hospital can offer to elder women, mammograms. The short video shows the potential "happy and healthy" results that elderly women can achieve from the test such as cheer-leading, kart-wheeling, tap dancing, casual drinking, and bowling. One's health shouldn't prevent one from feeling youthful.
Although this commercial made me feel happy for the old women who are, I'm assuming, breast cancer free, I feel the ad targets too specific of an age group. Hospitals are not just for old women. A huge population is excluded from this "experience." The song "when I group up" in the background makes me feel old, which is not the type of emotion or reaction the audience should be feeling. Maybe this response was just unique to me, however let me know what you all think of this commercial and how it relates to "aging."
Sep 22, 2009
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I totally see where younger women (and people in general) would feel excluded from this video. It's clearly dealing exclusively with older women. However, when I watched the video I gathered that the message is that all women should get mammograms so that they will live to be old women. In this way, I think this video has a broad appeal. Ironically, though, several fun things that these presumably healthy older women are doing are characteristically things that younger women do (e.g. cheerleading at a track). Personally, I think that is the societal perception of age that is most at play here: youth is equated with fun and adventure, and the elderly are only fun if they do similar things as young people.
ReplyDeleteI felt like this commercial was gently mocking the elder women, especially in the cheerleading scene. I agree with Kathryn that "youth is equated with fun and adventure" but I'm not so sure if I agree that "the elderly are only fun if they do similar things as young people." I know that is horrible of me to say. I have a stereotype towards the aged population I guess. If I see an older person going out to the clubs in a short skirt, I don't think "wow, she's super cool." In fact, I would assume she is insecure or mentally unhealthy. I don't understand why I have these stereotypes but I'd like to change them hopefully from understanding the elderly point of views on life.
ReplyDeleteI personally felt a connection to this ad that I usually do not feel when viewing clips featuring elderly people. To me, the upbeat music and scenes of women having fun reminded me that it's "worth it" to maintain my health because fun doesn't have to stop once you pass middle age. I agree with the above comments about the woman cheerleading, as that one part of the ad seemed to be have an almost mocking tone, however I felt that the rest of the ad focused on the women's ability to enjoy themselves while doing the sorts of activities that are fun at any age, whether it be dancing, bowling, or swimming. I personally didn't think that the ad's message is that you have to do the same things as young people in order to have fun; I felt it was more that fun is available to people of any age if they work to preserve their health.
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ReplyDeleteIn this video, the women are clearly happy about their age! with them doing the various activities demonstrates that even though they're old, they still can do anything that any young person can do. Mammograms are essential to women so they have the opportunity to age and be a part of the aging process.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I'm a touch confused by this video. Either the point is to get young women to get mammograms so that they can grow old or to encourage older women to get checked so they can stay healthy and active. The former though, makes little sense as few young women want to view themselves as elderly women and the latter, as stated in an earlier post, seems to mock the elderly by showing them doing activities typical of much younger people. Overall, an ineffective ad (luckily it doesn't need to be to convince women to see doctors), it nevertheless highlights a curious juxtaposition.
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