“Old age” isn’t a phrase that gets anyone excited, but maybe that’s just the phrase’s fault.
In a compelling new editorial, the Daily Telegraph says that modern aging is in desperate need of a marketing makeover. We hear so much about 60 becoming the new 40, after all, but everyone still talks in terms of “twilight,” “golden,” and “mature” — words that few people are eager to embrace as adjectives for their own lives.
So let’s let the lexicon reflect the new reality: old age isn’t all that “old” anymore.
“I look forward to the world catching up with what I expect brand wise when I become even MORE mature (read: very easily aggravated),” reads the Telegraph’s unsigned op/ed.
“For a start,” the Telegraph continues, “I will never move to an ‘aged care facility’… the Princess Leia suite at the Star Wars Arms [will] happen a lot faster.”
This is what the article calls “Old Age 2.0,” and it reflects a renewed vigor among the over-60 set. Bingo and bridge are out with the old, karaoke and happy hour are in now instead. It’s a livelier life, indeed.
“Why do we have to leave the fun behind because we’ve managed to live longer than we ever imagined?” the Telegraph asks. “…Aging is not about the end of fun, it’s about discovering My Life 2.0.”
