In the past week we’ve all seen it circulating on Instagram
and TikTok: a woefully incriminating graph evidencing the correlation between
when Leo breaks up with his girlfriends and how old they are. ICYMI: not many
survive beyond 25.
Leo’s Law unleashed a firestorm of activity in the
twitterverse, with many weighing in on the problematic nature of this
phenomenon. As the Guardian
comments, “Twenty-five is a milestone year. It’s when the development and
maturation of your prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for
impulse control and decision-making, is finally complete. At 25 you have
reached maturity and have a fully formed brain. You also have absolutely no
chance of dating Leonardo DiCaprio. As has been frequently observed, the 47-year-old
actor appears to be incapable of a relationship with anyone over the age of
25.”
Leo’s Law: DiCaprio's dating history TrustLittleBrother / Reddit
Rich old men dating young women is, of course, nothing new.
Why is the world so hung up on it now?
In the post-MeToo era we’ve demanded more accountability
from those we revere, and Leo’s Law is alarmingly inconsistent we the progress
we expect around gender equity. Don’t take my word for it: research has shown
that the age gap between partners decreases in countries with greater gender
equality. A paper
on the subject notes, “As gender equality increased, women expressed less
preference for older men, men expressed less preference for younger women, and
consequently the sex difference in the preferred age of mates became smaller.”
So what does this have to do with marketing?
The way we represent women in marketing is, unsurprisingly
and uninterestingly, gender biased. What’s interesting is how much this gender
bias compounds with age bias. Google shared findings in an analysis
of 2.7 million YouTube ads:
- Female characters are
more likely to be in their 20s and 30s in ads, while male characters are
shown across age groups.
- Globally, male
characters are an average of four years older than female characters in
ads.
- Over the five years
examined, the average age of female characters stayed relatively
consistent while male characters got older.
Google explains the problem with the lack of representation
of older women in marketing by observing consumer behavior, “Audiences respond
to inclusive storytelling. We found that YouTube videos uploaded by advertisers
featuring at least as many female characters as male yielded 30% more views
than other videos, telling us that when advertisers make their creative more inclusive,
people watch. There's an appetite for stories that truly reflect the complexity
and diversity of our world. Brands that respect that diversity will earn the
trust of their audiences.”
Fletcher Knight recently outlined the opportunity in a thought
piece that corroborates Google’s findings on consumer preferences:
“Results from a survey taken by Ben Barry, founding director
of the Fashion Diversity Lab at Ryerson University, Canada, found that women
are 200 percent more likely to buy a product when they see it advertised by
someone who reflects their age, and 65 percent less likely when they didn’t. We
believe that marketers need to start taking that to heart. ‘Brands are targeted
to a different generation, which makes me feel irrelevant,’ a 60-year-old New
Yorker told us. ‘No one is really talking to women in their 60s on any level. I
want them to talk to me.”
It's not rocket science – but as an industry, we still
haven’t cracked the code. And time’s running out.
We’re speaking to an aging population that will outlive any
previous generation, and women are on pace to be the majority in this age
group. More than that, they control spending. Forbes
published some staggering stats about age 50+ Women:
- They comprise the
largest demographic of incomes over a $100,000;
- They control 95% of
household purchasing decisions and 80% of luxury travel purchases;
- 82% of them are open to
new brands;
- 75% are willing to pay a
little extra for both quality and convenience.
Need more proof? Check out the “Empty Nesters” and “Boomer
Women” section of this
site. One noteworthy stat: Over the next decade, women will control
two-thirds of consumer wealth in the United States and be the beneficiaries of
the largest transference of wealth in our country’s history. Estimates range
from $12 to $40 trillion. Many Boomer women will experience a double
inheritance windfall, from both parents and husband. (Source: Fleishman-Hillard
New York).
Yet, by and large we’re still not talking to older women.
Leo’s dating history seems to suggest that for him, women
have an expiration date. If marketers continue to follow suit, it could pose
the biggest missed opportunity they see in their lifetime.
