What do older adults find engaging (or not) in TV advertising?

by Jeff Weiss

If you put me on the spot to offer examples of companies that are doing a good job at targeting and engaging older adults, I would, sadly, be pulling from a list that is relatively small. As our population continues to get older, I would have thought we would see more brands embracing this significant demographic shift by placing a greater level of effort and resources against this lucrative group of consumers which controls over 50% of all consumer spending (if you include all adults 50 and older). But the reality is that the vast majority of companies still either ignore this group or market to them in stereotypical ways that do not resonate.

With that said, there are some brands that have done a much better job in marketing to older adults through a variety of channels along the consumer journey. Given our focus on Active Aging consumers, we are always on the lookout for companies and brands who are making an effort to connect with older adults, especially as there is much to learn from their efforts. We are also in the unique position of being able to get valuable feedback on their marketing from our proprietary research community, Revolution55.

To that end, we selected six TV spots that we believe do a better than average job of engaging older adults for further evaluation with Active Agers. What do they like about these ads? Do they share any positive qualities or attributes? This was not an exhaustive list by any means, but the reality is that there aren’t many great examples globally to choose from. These six ads were selected based on previous research we had conducted in addition to our overall experience and expertise in understanding what is likely to get more traction with older adults.

Over the course of a week in July, 2025, we showed these ads to our Revolution55 community and asked them to rate the overall appeal/likeablity of each ad and to then select up to three elements/attributes (from a list of 12 options) that they liked most for each ad.

Based on the results from our community, below are several key findings and insights we uncovered.

1. Age Matters

In assessing overall feedback one thing we watched out for was if there were any positive common attributes our community members saw in all of the ads? The only attribute that made it into the top 5 for each ad tested was that it featured “people my age”, although this attribute did not score highest amongst any of the spots.

This result suggests older adults want to see people who they can relate to, even if that is not the most important factor to successful ads. As a marketer, if your ad does feature people, you probably want to ensure older adults are included and that they are relatable to your older audience. Otherwise you may appear out of touch with their interests, needs and aspirations. An example of a good approach is found in this TV spot for Michelob Ultra:

2. Strike the Right Tone

An element found in the top 5 ranking for all but one ad was that it had “a warm and positive tone”.

Many ads and marketing messages targeting older adults are about the challenges and “doom and gloom” of getting older. This approach is often off-putting to the target audience who want to live longer, healthier and happier lives. This finding very much reflects insights we have long observed around the idea that Active Agers want to see ads that highlight and promote their desires and aspirations. This Amazon ad is an example of one that does this well.

3. Tell Me a Story

Similar to the element of a warm and positive tone, “strong storytelling” fell within the top 5 positive elements associated with five of the ads shown to our Revolutionaries.

Strong storytelling can be a powerful element when targeting older adults particularly when combined with a warm and positive tone as illustrated by this ad from European online pharmacy and healthcare company, Doc Morris. Older adults like to be taken on a journey especially when there is a positive payoff at the conclusion of the spot.

4. Make Me Laugh

Although “Humor” did not make the top 5 ranking for two of the ads, it was selected as the number one attribute for three of the spots suggesting it can be hit or miss with older adults.

As illustrated by this powerful ad from Nike, humor can be a very effective technique in engaging older adults if executed properly (as was the case for three of the ads). However, similar to the use of music in ads, humor is subjective — what might be funny to one person might be offensive to someone else. It is noteworthy that ads, where the humor comes at the expense of younger adults, did not go over overly well. It seems older adults don’t want to see younger adults made fun of any more than themselves.

Using one or more of these four attributes in your TV spot will go a long way in delivering messages that will appeal to and resonate with older adults. However, based on our experience, involving older adults (ideally ones who are a target consumer for your product) both in the development stage and in testing will help you create a memorable and effective ad.

If you are interested in effectively reaching and engaging with older adults, reach out to me and I can share a more detailed overview of the opportunity and how we can potentially help you unlock this largely untapped (and measureable) marketing opportunity.