Intentionally recruiting and retaining an age-diverse workforce?
Fostering age-inclusive mindsets in the workplace?
Keep going! You’re upping your chances of producing work that is representative of all ages. But inclusive work…takes work. Why? We’re human. We’re biased. And, when we’re crunched for time (like…all the time), we can unwittingly succumb to stereotypes and tropes, working with the same people, and falling back on the familiar.
Use thoughtful and inclusive language.
Mix it up on teams and assignments.
Mixed-age teams come up with more creative and inclusive solutions.
What story are you telling and how are you telling it?
Don’t stick with the same familiar folks with the same familiar perspectives.
Cast authentically and across the age spectrum.
Choose production companies with diverse, age-inclusive crews.
Retouch with care.
How do you handle conflicting interests?
What might our industry do to avoid perpetuating these beauty standards while keeping clients happy?
How do you move from ideas like anti-aging to concepts like healthy aging, positive aging, or aging well?
Remember:
Say a client has made a deliberately ageist request
Say they had to manage client expectations related to age
Get client buy-in on your DEI commitment and initiatives – before you start the work. (Bonus points for making this part of your pitch process.)
Agree to openly discuss all aspects of DEI as the work unfolds, and ensure age is an element of those discussions.
Hold each other accountable throughout the process.
Share what the agency is doing to push DEI efforts. (You can even share this link. Blame it on us.)
This search for diverse hands provided a little more variety…including one “old woman hands holding electronics…” Speaking of age-inclusive language (SEO aside), could it have been captioned in a more sensitive way? How would you edit it? Why does it matter? When ageist (and other -ist) language becomes normalized, it’s detrimental and perpetuates problematic norms.
Ageism is Alive and Well in Advertising
AARP’s Martha Boudreau is Advocating for Age-Inclusive Advertising
Older People Are Ignored and Distorted in Ageist Marketing
In Our Minds None of Us are Old
Agencies Have an Ageism Problem
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