The Case of The Outraged Pensioners
 You are probably familiar with the argument about strippers
and prostitutes enjoying their job as well as the money, so why should other people
get worked up about it? But you may not have come across the
pensioner who appears in an ad as a decrepit old biddy and who also likes the work and
doesn't feel one bit exploited.
Such is the case with Anne Fletcher, the 86-year-old who was photographed for a
poster advertising a car. No she wasn't
driving it, she was trundling with her shopping trolley over a zebra crossing, making her
fair game for the approaching vehicle.
Lots of people were outraged. Some enterprising protesters even daubed their
objections all over the poster, and one Senior Citizens organisation was quoted as being
insulted at the disrespect intended.
Ms Fletcher hit back with her own take on the ad. 'It was fun' she said. 'There was never a thought that anyone would see
it as offensive'. She says she is not a professional model (does this mean she wasn't paid?), but has gone on to be
photographed for Help the Aged, Neighbourhood Watch and other modelling assignments.
 So what's my problem? Sorry
to be a killjoy, but I - and I'm talking about you too - don't get the fun or the
money, we just get the attitude that old people are slow, pathetic and good for a laugh.
And yet, and yet… Part of me is delighted that Ms Fletcher has had this
opportunity. Few do at her age. I am even, in
a way, pleased that advertisers acknowledge the existence of anyone over fifty in an ad. For the most part, if you were a visitor from Mars
relying on public images, you would never guess that our elderly population is expanding
or even exists.
But do we want 'old' to be the butt of
jokes? If the people on the zebra
crossing had been young women, or mothers with children or people of an ethnic minority,
would the image have ever got off the ground?
Or take this other example, in an ad for tourism (sent to me by a reader of
this column). It showed photographs of various historical sites and
invited visitors to see the country's old relics. Along
with the castles and picturesque villages was a picture of elderly men in a pub.
 Another joke depending on whether you're laughing or being
laughed at.
You'd have thought by now that advertisers would realise that older people
buy cars, take holidays and are not intrinsically funny because of the number of birthdays
they have celebrated.
Should we complain to advertisers,
boycott products or insist on being 'tolerant' so as not to be accused of lacking a sense
of humour?
Send me your views: helen@laterlife.com
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Talkback is a regular
feature in laterlife.com run by journalist and author Helen Franks. 
