Ageing and Advertising sets out to address critical and timely questions: how is later life represented in advertising, how is it perceived by those it seeks to represent, and how might these representations be improved? Media images of ageing are not neutral. They shape how older age is understood, valued and experienced, and in advertising this influence intensifies as campaigns produce cultural meanings and social expectations. Responding to a UK media landscape shaped by equity, diversity and inclusion agendas, this book examines a persistent imbalance. Older adults remain underrepresented and confined to narrow and repetitive roles. Ageing and Advertising confronts this problem, offering a systematic critique of existing portrayals and a framework for rethinking them. Combining perspectives from media and communication studies, psychology, literary theory and advertising practice, the book develops an original typology of older character types in UK advertising, organised through six representational strategies and grounded in a comprehensive empirical study of television advertising. This provides a robust transferable tool for analysing how ageing is constructed across promotional media. The integration of traditions of character and genre analysis with contemporary advertising research traces how deeply embedded narrative conventions shape portrayals and stereotypes of ageing. Co-creative audience research with older adults reveals how advertising is interpreted, negotiated and at times resisted. These insights inform principles for developing more resonant communication. Ageing and Advertising offers the most comprehensive account to date of ageing in UK advertising. The book will interest scholars and students of advertising, media and communication, cultural studies and ageing studies, as well as practitioners seeking to engage older audiences.

Dennis Olsen is Professor of Strategic Communications and Media Cultures at the University of West London. He researches the relationship between media and society, with a focus on ageing, representation and inclusive communication practices.

Jeremy Strong is Professor of Literature and Film at the University of West London, teaching creative writing and English Literature. He is widely published in literature, film, cultural studies and food studies.