Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Be-Older
Out with the old? Not anymore. Age has become contradictory to itself and is now becoming a thing of the past. With L’Oreal featuring Oscar Award-Winning Dame Helen Mirren as the newest brand ambassador, people are no longer being dismissed in the eye of beauty once reaching a certain age. Why? Because you’re worth it.When you hear the word flat, you can’t help but associate it with being exactly that; dull, lifeless, expired. Even the way it looks speaks volumes in ways the word does not. There was a time when old age was exactly that. People had already had their time; beauty was just for the youth. Oldies, biddies, past-it’s – you’d all had your moment and now it was time to accept it, wrinkles and all. That time has passed. We are entering a new age called The Flat Age Society, which is anything but what the word suggests. In the words of Sonia van Gilder Cooke and Victoria Buchanan at LS:N Global, “The cult of youth is fading, replaced by a culture of agelessness, where people’s interests and activities needn’t change just because they were born on a certain date.”
With Dame Helen Mirren, 69 years, being selected as L’Oreal’s newest brand ambassador, we can see just how quickly this trend is taking place. In the past, L’Oreal’s ambassadors have rarely strayed over the age of 40, only ever scraping the barrel by using slightly older women such as Julianne Moore and Andie MacDowell. Now through featuring Helen Mirren, it shows how brands are rightly opting to use iconic women as opposed to young, emerging models who have yet to earn their status as icons. Pamela Lutrell, editor of Over50Feeling40, says, “The brand is well-established and well-known, so to see such a high profile woman being the face of this famous brand gives me a lot of confidence in the brand. Helen Mirren in particular is perfect for the brand that doesn’t need to shout about itself but has a strong, silent presence that can command the moment.”
With this being the prime time for those in their prime, Susan N – editor of Flattering50 – offers her invaluable views on this age range. “Using older women as brand spokespeople has been happening more and more in recent years – at least in the States. Lauren Hutton, Charlotte Rampling, Diane Keaton – to name a few. I expect it will continue.” With her expertise in the area of women aged 50+, she continues, “I do think our culture, which is beauty and youth-obsessed, would have been horrified to see older women in ads for beauty products 50 years ago. No one wanted to think about getting old. Now, however, the largest consumer group is aged 50-70. Suddenly, everyone is interested in selling their products to them. It’s a new ad campaign targeted at the older woman. It just doesn’t seem more important than that.”
While it’s preferable to assume that L’Oreal’s only intent is to show recognition to those that have been ignored for too long, realistically, there has to be a profitable agenda behind it for them. After all, can you name a brand that is all give and no take? Rebecca Heane, owner of her own company, Cream Cornwall, sheds light on L’Oreal’s approach of using an older woman in terms of increasing the sales and making the brand more relatable to older women. “The older demographic has more disposable income to spend on themselves than those in their 20’s-30’s, who are busy having families etc. The silver service is a massive market who know what they want and have the money to buy it,” With her experience in business, it’s hard to argue with these facts. She continues, “They’re not going to buy a cream with a picture of Cara Delevingne on it, as it would meant nothing to them. Helen Mirren is a respected actress - not just a pretty face we’ll all have forgotten about in a years’ time.”
Aging is inevitable, and the vast majority of people seem to be wary of growing old, but now by using older icons such as Helen Mirren, it makes becoming older more appealing as opposed to something people are fearful of. It’s all about looking your best when reaching a certain age and having something to aspire to. Granted, the word itself may be flat, but with all things considered, if a brand is moving in the direction of the times and adhering to the Flat Age Society, well, you have to give credit where credit’s due; there’s nothing flat about that.
