The marketing of retirement communities and retiree lifestyles

Retirement communities not only reflect, reproduce and emplace very specific ideas about how and where to enjoy retirement Laws 1995; McHugh 2000), but they are implicated in and are the products of the commodification of later life. As commodities, the effectiveness and therefore the content of advertise¬ ments used to attract potential residents play a crit¬ ical role in promoting the amenities and lifestyle offered by retirement communities. This paper exam¬ ines the type of images used in the marketing litera¬ ture, essentially elaborate advertisements, produced by retirement communities in order to promote the lifestyle they offer. As idealized representations of reality these advertisements provide messages and information to older people about the most appropri¬ ate way to enjoy later life. The life described cham¬ pions successful ageing and agelessness while at the same refuting old age and agerelated illness. How¬ ever, as will be shown the representations of reality depicted are not uniform.