Tag Archives for AARP

Beer Commercial Brews Condemnation from Senior Organizations, Advocates

Published in the Pawtucket Times on May 13, 2002

This Bud’s Not for You.”

That’s what radio commentator Bill Benson told his vast WMKV-FM listening audience in Cincinnati, Ohio, last July when he called for Anheuser-Bush to pull a radio commercial that used elder abuse to pitch Bud Ice beer.

Sadly, this month Bill Benson reported in is Washington Aging Report that Anheuser-Busch again has brewed “bad faith” with the showing of another trashy television commercial.

Last July, Benson rallied aging advocates from across the nation to successfully force Anheuser-Bush, the maker of Budweiser beer, to pull a controversial radio commercial off the air.

Benson – a former acting assistant secretary for aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who now heads the Maryland-based Benson Consulting Group- along with the AARP and aging advocates, condemned the St. Louis-based beer company for using ageism to sell its brews.

Last July, much to the surprise or Anheuser-Busch officials, wide-spread criticism erupted with the release of its advertising campaign, “She Married Steven Buck Simpson.”

The commercial featured a 22-year-old woman gleefully talking about how she physically, emotionally and financially abused her frail 93-year-old tycoon husband. Ultimately, the young woman leaves the country in her elder husband’s private jet taking away all his money.

Benson along with elder law attorneys, ombudsmen, and aging advocates, called the advertising campaign tacky, bombarding the station’s largest beer maker with calls, tells  letters and emails.

“Elder abuse is not a joking matter and your message to the country is inappropriate,” said AARP President Ester Canja in a letter sent to Anheuser-Busch CEO August A. Busch III.

When the dust settled this public relations fiasco, the commercial was quickly pulled.

But now a new television commercial has drawn the ire of Benson and his fellow aging advocates.

In a recent radio commentary, Paul Greenwood, who heads the Elder Abuse Prosecution Union at San Diego County’s District Attorney’s Office, told Benson of a commercial he viewed while watching a televised NBA basketball game on April 29 on TNT

Greenwood became annoyed when Anheuser-Busch ran a spot featuring young people ripping off vulnerable adults.

The offensive commercial began with a young couple seated on a dining room table with the aging parents of the young woman. The young man, evidently the daughter’s significant other tells her elderly parents that he and his daughter look forward to moving in and gaining the property when they die.  Then he apparently complements the elderly parents for still having “motor skills” and finishes by saying, “She tells me you are loaded.”

Every day Greenwood sees the impact of exploitation of older Americans, said Benson.  His unit has prosecuted 124 felony elder abuse cases in 2000, and 147 felony cases in 2001.  This year, the number of cases prosecuted may well reach 225. That’s why Greenwood got offended when the beer commercials trivialized the financial exploitation of the elderly.

Just as he did when the last commercial raised his ire. Benson put the spotlight on the new Anheuser-Busch spot, giving it a thumbs-down in his latest Washington Aging Report and calling on thousands of aging advocates , via the internet, to urge the company to drop the commercial.

At press time, Anheuser-Busch officials had no comment about the latest controversial ad campaign.

Maybe it is time for the beer maker to solicit proposals to seek the services of a new advertising firm, one that can create material that is both humorous and creative, yet not offensive.

At the very least, they should require the creative types who develop the company’s advertising strategies to attend sensitivity training seasons.

In his radio  commentary, Benson firmly stated “my taste buds will no longer taste Bud again.” With hundreds of thousands of aging advocates and seniors following his  lead Anheuser-Busch just might finally get it at least this time around.

Supreme Court Jumps into Age Discrimination Debate

Published in Pawtucket Times on March 25, 2002

In 1983, my 70-year-old father expressed his concerns about job hunting in his senior years.

Like many at his age, he was not considering retirement but was seeking a new professional challenge. He began to put out feelers for new employment while still being employed by a Dallas, Texas-based retail chain after m ore than 40 years of service.

They won’t hire me if they find out my age,” my father staid, adding that he believed that job experience gleaned from years of employment is not valued by many in corporate America.

Sadly, my father’s fears of age discrimination expressed to me years ago is still documented today by the federal government.

Last year, more than 20 percent of the 80,840 discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against private-sector employers were related to age discrimination.

Last week, the Supreme Court jumped into the age discrimination debate and will determine whether seniors have the same legal rights as other types of discrimination claim suits do.

Layoffs at the Florida Power Corporation during a series of reorganizations led to the termination of Wanda Adams and 116 older workers.

More than 70 precent of these persons were at least 40 years old or older. A lawsuit, Adams vs. Florida Power Corp. was filed, claiming the Florida-based corporation discriminated against older workers based on their age in violation of the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Under the 1967 federal statute, older workers must not be treated differently than younger workers because of their age.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta affirmed the trial court’s decision that older workers could challenge their termination by proving that their employer’s action had a discriminatory motive or intent (disparate treatment) rather than a disproportionate impact (disparate impact) on older workers.  AARP believes that this court ruling would make age bias suits tougher to prove, giving employers a greater ability to trim their payrolls of older workers.

Now the U.S. Supreme Court is posed to consider a hot judicial issue, especially one that will impact millions of employed aging baby boomers.

AARP, a Washington, DC-based aging advocacy group that represents more than 35 million members, has filed a “friend of the court brief” showing that its support of disproportionate impact, for use in proving age discrimination suits.

The nonprofit group says that the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that these types of suits are allowed under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, to prove discrimination based on an employee’s gender, religion or race.

AARP official Laurie McCann states that if the U.S. Supreme Court supports AARP’s legal position, then older workers can win suits by not having to show employer’s intent to discriminate.

“Older employees will always find it hard to prove intent, because it’s difficult to get inside the employer’s head to get evidence as to what they are thinking.”

McCann says oral arguments were heard on March 20, and the justices ruling should be expected to the end of June.

“We will explore  the possibility of a legislative fix,” she adds, “to allow older workers to prove age bias if they’ll company’s practices and policies has a disproportionate impact on older workers.”

Adds AARP State Director Kathleen Connell, “Once unemployed older workers face sharply limited employment opportunities, re-employment after job loss declines dramatically at older ages.

“Older workers have a fundamental right to work in an environment free of age discrimination,” she says. “Age discrimination can be blatant or subtle and can include such practices as refusing to hire or promote older workers, encouraging their retirement, targeting them in reductions in force, curtailing their employee benefits on liming their training opportunities job responsibilities and duties.”

If the U.S. Supreme Court rules to make age bias suits tougher to prove, then aging baby boomers will continue to face the same concerns of my father’s generation – that age discrimination runs rampant throughout corporate America.

When reviewing the merits of the Adams case, it is hope that the justices will see the wisdom of giving older workers the same legal clout as women, minorities, gays and religious persons. Courts have allowed these groups to legally challenge racial, sexual or religious discrimination on the grounds that an employer’s actions had a disproportionate impact on them.

It’s time to protect older workers, too. It’s only fair.

AARP Sets Up Shop Here in Rhode Island

Published in Pawtucket Times on February 11, 2002

Up until last year, the American Association of Retired Persons operated a regional office in Boston, just a 45-minute drive from the Ocean State. The closing of the Boston regional office cleared the way for the nation’s largest group serving people ages 50-plus to open up a state office in Rhode Island.

With a state office up and running, AARP will better serve its 17 Rhode Island chapters, whose membership now totals more than 129,000 persons.

With AARP’s new office at 10  Orms St., Providence, Rhode Island has become one of the last remaining offices to open a local office.

“We’re happy as quahogs in our new digs.” This quote, superimposed on dozens of quahogs, decorates the front cover of AARP’s open house invitation.

The design sets the stage for last week’s Ocean State bash to celebrate the opening of AARP’s plush 4,200-square-foot Providence office. The opening reception, featuring a sampling of Rhode Island delicacies from each region of the state, reinforced the point AARP was trying to make – that its new home is Rhode Island.

One hundred and fifty people came to AARP Rhode Island’s grand opening bash, including AARP chapter presidents and volunteers, elected state officials and lawmakers, staff from the state’s various Congressional delegation and representatives of a myriad of aging organizations.

For more than two hours, they mingled and enjoyed the plentiful food and drink whipped up and served by Eastside Catering. Many even took tours of the new office, as well.

“Having an office in our capital city sends a message to our members and community partners that we are raising the visibility of AARP in Rhode Island and intend to rev up our advocacy and educational initiatives throughout the state,” said State AARP Director Kathleen S. Connell, welcoming the crowd of well-wishers.

Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci brought his official greets to AARP’s gathering, too.

“It’s cause for great celebration that we now have direct representation in Providence of one of the most effective and beneficial associations advocating for retired persons in the world today,” Cianci told the crowd gathered in the packed conference room.

Cianci can be a tough act to follow, but AARP National Board Member Virginia Tierney, held her own.

Tierney, who came from Quincy, Mass. To attend the festivities, gave her thumbs up to the office’s opening.

“Having a state office will speak to an ongoing priority for our organization -diversity,’ she said, noting that with offices in every state, the group can better position itself to reach people ages 50-plus from all walks of life. “AARP’s membership should mirror the rest of our population.”

With the conclusion of AARP’s 20-minute speaking program, a 6-foot ribbon held by AARP staffers was cut by Cianci, who  was surrounded by Tierney, Secretary of State Ed Inman, General Treasurer Paul Tavares, and acting State President Virgilio DeVecchis.

So, what’s so special about AARP’s new “digs?”

AARP’s new office, right across from the Providence Marriott Hotel, has a very large conference room with video tele-conferencing capabilities. This room, is large enough to fit  30 people around a large rectangular conference table. Got room for an educational program or large meeting?  No problem. The space allows for the setting up of 100 chairs theater-style.

Meanwhile, a smaller conference room provides ample space to meet in small groups. Additionally, another small room is equipped with multiple phone hookups to allow AARP staffers and volunteers to use in their advocacy efforts and for compiling information through phone surveys. AARP’s four staffers each have an office with one office available for use by visiting AARP Regional and National Staff.

AARP’s office is colorfully decorated. Wall-to-wall mulberry-colored carpet, dark stained wood along the grayish walls, a teal-colored sofa and chairs in the reception area and heavy dark-stained office furniture throughout the office to create a traditional, conservative look.

Colorful prints provided by the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Arts adorn the grayish walls in the front office area.

“Great turnover,” said AARP volunteer Marie Kerr of Middletown.  The former school nurse and teacher states that AARP members now have a home to come to. “It’s a good location, too, for statewide meetings,” she says.

Volunteer Mary Garrett, a former special education teacher from Newport, adds that the new office is a great place for AARP Members to gather with peers.