Have you seen the advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer featuring “The Most Interesting Man in the World”? Each commercial depicts exploits from the “interest MATT
THORNHILL
ing man’s” past, or he offers insight on a particular topic. For example, on the topic of “Life” he says, “It is never too early to start beefing up your obituary.“

The national debate on health care may be finding its way into more cocktail party conversations, but in our recent experience interacting with older boomers, the national issue runs a distant second to a more per sonal topic—me and my doctor(s). At social gatherings over the past few months we have been struck by the number of conversations between older boomers, those over 50, about doctor visits, chronic conditions, recent procedures, physical therapy sessions, and prescription drugs. At first we thought these boomers were talking about providing care for elderly parents. But no, the patient was in the room; in fact, he or she was in every conversation.

MATT THORNHILL Metro Business asked Matt Thornhill, president of the Boomer Project, a marketing research firm in Richmond that looks at the boomer population, about the economy: “I am not bullish but bearish when it comes looking at this recovery. We’re going to have slow growth for many years to come. And there are three significant reasons why:

Last week Stephen Moore of The Wall Street Journal wrote a column titled, “This Boomer Isn’t Going to Apologize,“ in response to an earlier report that “graduation ceremonies have become collective air ings of guilt and grief.“ It’s now chic, he said, “for boomers to apologize for their generation’s crimes.“ Moore was having none of it, and he made a provocative case that boomers have nothing to apologize for. He pointed out, “We’re the generation that spawned Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Google, ATMs, and Gatorade. We defeated the evils of communism and delivered the world from the brink of global thermonuclear war.“

We have figured out why Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter are so popular among younger generations, and seemingly pointless to many of us boomers. Before we share our epiphany, here is some background: A few years ago the folks at Pew Research, a nonprofit, conducted a study among younger generations to get a sense of their goals in life. The purpose was to learn more about the mindset of the leading edge of America’s largest and youngest generation, the millennial generation. Some 80 million millennials, born between 1982 and 2001, are reaching ages 8 to 27 this year. (Pew talked only with millennials over the age of 18 for the study.)

Christmas, as Charlie Brown has long understood it—and the Grinch, too, ever since his heart grew three sizes that fateful day—isn’t about the presents: It’s about so much more. We’re seeing the evidence in family rooms across America. Consumers of all ages are deciding that happiness on Christmas morning can’t be found in a big box store, and it can’t be wrapped up in pretty paper. Buying and owning more stuff provides no lasting satisfaction—only bigger credit card bills and a shriveled savings account. Americans of all ages are craving what money cannot buy: the rewards of friendship, family, community, and spirituality. Mass consumerism by the masses is dead.