Sick of Us Yet?

There it was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, another way point in the Boomer generation's seemingly never ending journey through the culture of America.  In a story by Serena Ng about Proctor & Gamble's disposable diaper business some fairly significant numbers begged me to read more.    Because of our nation's dropping fertility rate, baby diaper sales have been in decline for several years.  In fact sales has dropped off so dramatically P&G had exited the diaper dodge more than a decade ago.

The flip side of this trend is the increasing need for ADULT diapers.

Enter the aging baby boomers!  My generation, now retiring and aging like a truckload of ripe cantaloupes parked in the sun,  is sending the adult diaper industry into lunar sales orbit.  In the last fifteen years sales of incontinence products have just about tripled.  International sales are coming in at around $7 billion and are increasing at over 8% per year.  That sets up P&G for an approximate haul of about a half a billion bucks in sales for the next year or two alone.

Naturally this means all non boomers will be required to subject themselves to a carpet bombing of advertising for yet one more geezer targeted commodity.  Isn't it bad enough already??!!  How many more 50's and 60's rock n' roll hits can Madison Avenue possibly turn into commercials?  It has become so awful that I find it nearly impossible to recall the original lyrics to the songs that have lately been lifted to peddle everything from diet plans and cold remedies to laxatives and boner pills.  It's downright  embarrassing.  

"Hi, it's Eddie for Preparation H."

By 2050 almost 84 million Americans will be age 65 and older.  That's more than 20% of the population.  We baby boomers will have gone from the Pepsi generation to the "Hey you kids get off my lawn!" grumps while the rest of the country counts the seconds until we've all shuffled off the planet.  I don't know how other generations put up with us.  Just think of all the forty and fifty year-old music, clothing and cultural icons that permeate the zeitgeist simply because there are so damn many boomers. If, like me, you came of age in the 50's and 60's, think of what it would have been like to have a bunch of tunes from the 1920's, not to mention "roaring 20's" expressions and clothing permeating the media and life in general.   That's how it is today for generations X, Y and whoever the heck comes later.   We probably really need to apologize.

Shelley Fabares for "Johnny Angel" toilet bowl cleaner

In the meantime, until those of us born from 1946-64 check in to our reserved suites at the Horizontal Hilton, get ready for a lot more products and advertising pitches designed to take our money and make us feel special.

And now a word from The Beaver….for Depends.

Beav?? Is that you?  

Angela Cartwright for "Make Room for Daddy" relaxed fit jeans