Posted by twayneking on Thursday, October 26, 2017
There are a lot of kids here on the Banjo Hangout and that's a good thing for the survival of our musical sport. You always need new blood to keep a thing going. At the same time the BHO respects age and experience and there is a steady sharing of skills and knowledge between the old guys and gals and the young pups coming up that happens here. There's a respect here for the skill that goes with age and experience and in the opposite direction there's a respect for youthful energy and innovation.
Unfortunately for the (barely) United States of America, we've fallen (or at least those in the marketing industry have fallen) for the old Celtic ideal of Tir-na-og, the mythical land of youth as its utopian ideal. Not good for us geezers since in mythical Tir-na-og, seniors were not welcome.
You see this youth-centricism every season on television as they cancel all the really good television shows (i.e. the ones I like) and give as an excuse that they only appeal to an older audience. If it doesn't attract the 20-30 demographic it gets shoveled on the ash heap by the marketing gurus. They've canceled "Longmire" in case you're wondering why I'm complaining about this like I'm some cranky old geezer (which I am). Their excuse is that Longmire's audience skewed older. It wasn't attracting the kids which is their desired audience.
Well duh!
Longmire told an actual story and wasn't layered with messages about global warming and how awful Republicans are. The plot was character-driven not "issues" driven. You had to pay attention to it in order to know what was going on. There were characters and depth of storytelling like you don't see much on TV these days. Very likely it will be replaced with some cynical bit of youthful snobbery with lots of bells, flashing lights, gossip and whistles and the occasional squirrel or naked person. Maybe some celebrities in tight pants will dance. It's all about attracting the attention of the perpetual children that make up so much of the 20-30 year old demographic these days.
People who don't have the attention span to learn to play banjo!
Now don't you feel superior? I certainly do!
;-)
Tom King
6 comments on “The Tyranny of Youth”
WayneConrad Says:
Friday, October 27, 2017 @10:20:15 AM
Here's another take on it: Young people buy more stuff because they are financially less conservative than older people. They take on more debt, and buy more things using that debt. That makes them the favored target for advertisers, which means that anything where much of the revenue comes from ads (such as radio or TV) will need to target young people.
twayneking Says:
Friday, October 27, 2017 @1:33:02 PM
Yet marketing people claim they are able to create markets. If all they go after is the low hanging fruit, then perhaps their claims are over-rating. I can have a really good shooting score if I only shoot at targets ten feet away. The best rewards tend to be those you have to work hard for. The television industry seems afflicted with very short attention spans. If someone could make friends with the older generation, they might find that those more conservative purchase decisions are in fact more reliable ones. Ironically, one thing marketers know is that older people tend to stick with brands they trust. So if you can make yourself one of those trusted brands you can win yourself a loyal customer.
It's kind of lazy to pander to people with short attention spans and no product loyalty. You have to keep coming back and selling them all over again.
WayneConrad Says:
Friday, October 27, 2017 @1:43:08 PM
Tom, I think you're right.
Is your middle name "Wayne?" It's a good name.
twayneking Says:
Friday, October 27, 2017 @5:19:03 PM
Yep. Named for Wayne King, not John Wayne, though. Great name though. Passed it on to my eldest.
WayneConrad Says:
Friday, October 27, 2017 @7:58:40 PM
I just read the Wikipedia article on Wayne King. Sounds like quite a man to be named after. Are you a relation?
twayneking Says:
Sunday, October 29, 2017 @11:40:07 PM
No. Mom was a fan of his music.
You must sign into your myHangout account before you can post comments.
