AARP thinks only white men are safe drivers
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
I got this email from a Racialicious reader named Stephanie a few days ago:
I wasn’t sure if you’ve ever seen it, but AARP has a commercial out — I saw it this morning on CNN — regarding insurance to reward “experienced” drivers over 50. I tried to locate a copy of it online, to no avail, but if you catch the commercial, you’ll quickly discover that all the poor “inexperienced” drivers are women. The lone male among these unsafe drivers is non-white. Guess who portrays the experienced (read: safe & infallible) driver who is going to reap the AARP rewards? Yep, a 50+ White man. I was shocked that they would make a commercial like this that blatantly depicts anyone who isn’t white and, above all, male is a disaster behind the wheel and a menace to society! Felt like something out of another time.
If you can catch this commercial (AARP Driver Rewards), I hope you can find a way to post it online. It’s pretty miserable.
Has anyone else seen this ad? I couldn’t find it on YouTube or on AARP’s site.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
gatamala wrote:
please tell me that an Asian woman was NOT one of the dangerous drivers!
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 8:11 am ¶
latinamericanprinces wrote:
Interesting! I just wrote about a comment I heard the other night at dinner about how women can’t drive. Sadly it came from a woman. After I challenged her, she finally admitted that she’s a bad driver and perhaps she’s just generalizing. Perhaps??? Perhaps she feels better about herself hiding behind a stupid old stereotype?
http://latinamericanprincesa.com/2007/08/01/women-cant-drive/
I am not in the U.S. so I can’t say I’ve seen the commercial. But it wouldn’t surprise me. It’s public messages like that, which help to perpetuate these ideas and sadly some women support them as an excuse for their own inadequacy.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 9:17 am ¶
latinamericanprinces wrote:
well my name is latinamericanprincesa, but the form cut my name off!!!
carmen i was using “liliana u” but have a new username and blog.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 9:19 am ¶
Ike wrote:
It’s interesting that they’re choosing to set the age minimum at 50, because that’s nearing the age when people’s senses start fading. I wonder, is there a MAXIMUM age for this “experience” reward? Because I’m pretty sure that people in the 60-80 age range are more prone to accidents than people in the 30-50 age range.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 9:42 am ¶
latinamericanprinces wrote:
Good point on the age! I think it only proves that they are appealing to the white male patriarchy (i.e. head of household).
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 10:56 am ¶
evil_fizz wrote:
I’ve seen the ad. The smugness exuding from said white guy is enough to make you want to change the channel.
To be perfectly honest, every time someone talks about elderly drivers it reminds me of the guy in California who killed 10 people at a farmers’ market because he couldn’t sort out the gas and the brake.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 11:15 am ¶
benny wrote:
According to this article, seniors 65+ are not much riskier than those aged 25 to 64, and are much safer than young people 15 to 24 behind the wheel:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=82645
Also, there’s no information whatsoever about this reward program on the AARP website, and any search on “AARP Driver Rewards” just returns me to this website. Unless someone can post a video, I’ll have to withhold judgment for now.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 11:55 am ¶
jBullfrog wrote:
The stereotype that people aged 50+ are more prone to have accidents is actually far from true. There are several factors for this: people in this age range generally have more driving experience, people in this age age range have generally lived in the area they are driving in for a longer amount of time, and people in this age range are generally more prone to driving the speed limit and making a conscious effort to drive “safe” rather than drive to get somewhere as quick as possible.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 11:59 am ¶
Chaz wrote:
The minimum age is 50 because that’s minimum age for AARP membership.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 2:37 pm ¶
georgia wrote:
Old people are usually not that dangerous(unless they confuse the break and the gas and plow into a store), just REALLY slow, which is safe I guess.
Young men are by far the worst drivers because they are riskier behind the wheel(speeding being aggressive, and trying to impress their friends). Studies always say that women are safer drivers than their male counterparts.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 4:16 pm ¶
Blanky wrote:
When analyzed under the lens of race and gender, it’s hard to pull off a multigendered/multiracial commercial like this without some controversy.
Could it be done, I wonder?
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 4:39 pm ¶
Luke Pharma wrote:
I think that’s most of the story, jbulfrog and chaz.
It’s also important, I think, to note that after Bill Novelli (co-founder of PR powerhouse firm Porter Novelli) took over AARP a few years ago, it transformed from a senior advocacy interest group into a set of business interests.
It lowered the minimum membership age, increased range of services, scope of activites and outreach (especially to older gay/lesbian community).
But it’s the social marketing and policy that changed especially.
Recall the prescription drug benefits fight and other insurance carriage issues. They’re very savvy about who’s represented, the language used, etc. when marketing to key demographics. They’re not clueless by any means about what sells.
Posted 08 Aug 2007 at 5:14 pm ¶