Ad Men Use Beatles to Sell Senior Care

The other day I was in my car listening to the radio. On came the song "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. When I was in high-school, I became a fan of Pink Floyd and had friends who were huge fans of the band and "Wish You Were Here" is probably my favorite Pink Floyd tune. I saw them in concert at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island in 1989 - 14 years after that track was released.

When the song ended, I turned to another station and heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.

Nirvana released their album Nevermind in 1991, which included the iconic, "Stairway to Heaven" of my generation - "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I thought about it, and I realized that even though "Smells Like Teen Spirit" seemed more current; seemed more modern it was actually now a 19-year-old song. Which of course made "Wish You Were Here" at 35 year old song and all of this made me feel rather--older than I thought I was.

So when I ran across this little nugget in the Wall Street Journal, it made me wonder how some of our clients might feel if I started advertising our homecare services to the sounds of Frank Sinatra...or Chuck Barry...or, Pink Floyd?

The songs you loved when you were 23 may someday be used to sell you retirement care. Researchers have homed in on that age as the likeliest time when music that triggers life-long nostalgia is heard. People who watched the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show at 23 are now turning 70, and a Florida care home is using images of the one-time youth sensation as part of a nostalgia-based ad campaign.

The good feelings nostalgia generates are a potent tool for marketers, and, execs at the care home say, help improve life for seniors with little short-term memory. The care home runs a pop-culture program taking residents back to their youth. "They might not remember what they had for lunch, but they can sing along with Sinatra and know all the words," the facility's director of sales tells the Wall Street Journal.