With all the over 40 creative talent that exists here. How come we haven’t put together a funny and witty multi-channel campaign, that calls out the advertising industry on age discrimination?

People are genuinely terrified to divulge their age for fear of reprisal. The industry is riddled with unconscious bias. You need look no further than this platform to realize anonymity drives sharing experiences- which would otherwise be silenced. Continuing to produce stellar work at any age is a given. Age is not a bi-product of ineffectiveness, lack of humor or craft. You do need to evolve, stay current and be agile to stay in the running. Age discrimination needs a voice- better yet, several very loud ones leading the charge. Ageism is finally getting the attention it deserves. The key is to sustain interest, get beyond the fear and hold the industry accountable. Part of that is generating interest and humor is one way of doing it. Remember who your audience is and what the desired result is. The people who are hiring and firing are most likely under forty. They don’t want to be patronized and using humor to make your point does a lot of heavy-lifting, and when done correctly works cross-generationally. In my view, the answer is to live your age; don’t compromise your position, be fearless, embrace it, lead by example and generally give them hell. I’m nearly 62 and just getting warmed up and I’m really proud of that. #sayyourage #Disruptaging #liveolder #fiftyoverfiftyproject #smashingstereotypes

We don’t need an “awareness campaign”. Just like many other causes, it really isn’t about that. Everyone in the industry is aware. You would need to be an idiot or willfully ignorant not to. We don’t need awareness. We need to hold agencies accountable and we need solutions. Honestly, this industry needs us if it wants to survive, but holding companies need to get their heads out of their ass and stop being so shortsighted thinking only about their shareholders greedy demands.

Because no one would care.

Why don’t we just stab ourselves in our own backs with a rusty fork!

It shouldn’t be funny and witty necessarily.
The issue is very serious.

Many of us are Gen Xers, that’s just not how we roll.

Most of our freelancers are over 40

How about this? If we’re over 40 and worth our paychecks just do the work. Prove it. Show them what it actually takes to get to the best solution. Apply all that wisdom and experience to something tangible. No one owes us anything

They’re tackling every other ism except ageism. Every lay-off seems to target older workers, with a sprinkling of a few 20 somethings to make it not look obvious. it’s going to take a successful lawsuit, which will be hard because most employees are at-will, meaning they can get let go without cause

I assume it's cheaper to hire Millennials, benefits and salaries for "older" people are less economical. But I've found that this comes at a huge cost: immature employees with a higher turnover rate; company loyalty dwindles; the collaborative process deteriorates, impacting efficiency and the caliber of work; and institutional knowledge and best practices are lost for good. We are valuable assets who shouldn't be cast aside.

There was (is?) a quasi group of freelancers called “The Old Guys” on LinkedIn.

No one gets let go if they are good, committed, valuable and make their boss’s life easier. No matter the age.

Omg! That would
Be fantastic! Can it be like “anonymous” group?? We can address this issue and others. Creating campaigns and buying ad space ?

I had a similar idea to educate the public about the Recruitment industry - the Creative Groups of the world, etc.