Speaking of ageism, this just came up in Linked In.

Seriously? Golden years? People have nothing of value after age 45? Sorry, I won more lions and other awards this year than any other, and I’m in my 60’s. Creativity doesn’t evaporate into thin air at a certain age.

Just what I needed. A strategist to tell me when creatives are more creative with data he pulled out of his ass. This is so dumb, I don’t want to dignify such bullshit with an answer, but just look at almost every fucking famous creative outside of advertising, and at what age they peaked.

Walt Disney: died at 65 when Disneyland was under construction.

Gabriel García Marquez: Wrote 100 years of Solitude at age 40. Won Nobel in Literature at 55. Wrote a ton of shit after that, still.

Pablo Picasso was 56 when he painted Guernica (arguably his most famous painting). He kept painting until the day he died at 91.

42% of Robert Frost’s poems were written after the age of 50. For Wallace Stevens it was 49% and for William Carlos Williams it was 44%.

Alfred Hitchcock made “Dial M for Murder,” “Rear Window,” “To Catch a Thief,” “The trouble with Harry,” “Vertigo,” “North by North West,” and oh yeah, “Psycho”, between 54 and 65.

Mark Twain published “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” at 49.

Daniel Defoe wrote “Robinson Crusoe” at 58.

For Cézanne, the paintings he created in his mid sixties, on average are valued 15 times higher than the ones he created when he was young.

Jenny Beavan won an Oscar for her costume design in Mad Max at age 66.

And just to keep it in the industry, Lee Clow was around 52 when Steve Jobs asked him to work on what became the “Think Different” campaign that rebuilt Apple from basically ashes.
And ten years later, Apple would release the iPhone, when Steve Jobs was 52.

I could go on, and on, citing examples that would prove this creativity expiration date bullshit, but y’all get the point.

Whatever. I picked the wrong industry to get old in.

Do people not realize that ageism is illegal? So sick of this nonsense.

B.S.

I understand accumulating more skill sets as your experience grows, but not to the point where one skill is prioritized over another. And I don’t see any skills deteriorating with age either. As experience grows, skills all merge together, creating a perfectly rounded asset to any team.

The problem is, as a creative person becomes more of the complete package, no one skill set jumps out and we are mistaken for someone who’s dull, or uninspiring.

When in fact, the opposite is true.

Throw anything at us and we deliver greatness.

🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Tl;dr: old person proves they’ve lost it with long-winded post. Rumor has it he’ll be writing about the 3Cs™️ for His her next TedTalk.

(Please don’t report this post for excessive negativity. I’m a negative person in general)

In addition to disagreeing with this very flimsy “science” I think what largely drives ageism is our extreme shallowness as an industry. I love what we do and the people in it but older people usually just don’t fit the desired optics. Consciously or not.

My thought is that those are only two “C”s.

Seems about right for an Independent Brand & Communications Strategist trying to drum up some hits in a last ditch effort to stay relevant after passing all “3” Cs.

But what do I know. I’m thinking about my next career as a Walmart greeter.

You are being so nice! Don’t make excuses for CFOs. ITS THE MONEY! The business deserves a wide ranging class action and shaming campaign against ageism. The further back in time you look the more diverse the age of the Advertising worker. The industry advertises to everyone. Why would it only need youth to create relevant communication?

Oof.

I’m so sick of olds like us being shocked by ageism. We created it! Our entire careers were built on conning people to believe they could be thin, beautiful, cool, and powerful. Then we’re shocked when no one wants us? Come on.

Lose some weight, buy some decent clothes, watch some hit tv shows and listen to current music and comedians. Stay informed. It’ll buy you some time. And when it’s gone, do the craft thing and freelance.

Dude wants to put himself and others in a box. No creative wants to ever do that. Why is anyone listening to this person? He’s obviously not a real creative. He’s a classifier. Blah blah blah.

There are two types of people in this world: those who like categorizing people and those who defy categories.

My thoughts? Stfu.