Come on Sir Al, tell those ageist gits that the older generation have more disposable income than younger people struggling with mortgages and childrens costs in todays economy.

They look down their noses at selling to the older generation because according to them they are not hip or on trend which is the way they view the only market place which matters.

Al needs to instill that all customers matter the same, really isnt it that they have no idea how to sell to different age groups and sneer at the ones they have little understanding of their needs and purchasing power.

As in this caravan task, oh it is for the older generation, Yes, that older generation who pass you in expensive cars and shiny caravans, get out of the past view of caravans, most of these nowadays are very luxurious and beyond a lot of younger families who need every penny they have got to keep going.

Certainly many candidates over the years have looked on older people as an alien race, rather than the ones with the money to spend and the leisure time to spend it in and on.

Given that two of this series's candidates have been outrageously sexist it's more likely that stupidity is rife amongst this batch.

wrinklees doin it

no way not on my watch

Not really surprising for them.

It's taught in business school marketing textbooks, that older people are already "set in their ways" and much more unlikely as younger people to switch brands and suppliers.

In the USA, TV ratings and advertisers do not count ANYBODY over the age of 49, unlike the UK.

If you watch a TV show and are 50, you are worth a grand total of zero dollars to the advertisers.

older gen aren't necessarily looking to blow money away, younger gen like to spend but generally dont ahve a lot of money to blow. I think people in their 40s who are clearing mortgages and have more income are the biggest spenders.

Alex irritated me. He had no qualms about stereotyping older people, but as soon as the tables were turned for his youth, he was offended.

Agreed - Natalie and Leah were AWFUL!!

I think the very young candidates are often pilloried for their age, and the older ones are considered too old to be apprentices, so they really should keep the ages at 25-35 for the series or stop judging them on their ages and rather their abilities.

Too many times LS has kept people in the competition on their age alone - which is wrong

I didn't see that they were looking down their noses at older people. They'd identified older people as their likeliest market, by simple observation. What's ageist about that?

He did say that, on the fourth episode of Young Apprentice Series 2 (the over-50s task). He introduced the task by saying that in the current economic climate, the over-50s age group have the majority of the money, which was why this task would be about selling to them.

I couldn't stand that Kurt.
Did you see it where he was sneering and laughing at old people calling them coffin dodgers, like he was so superior to them?

I'm glad to see the back of him.

They were actually mocking them with sneers on their faces.

I find this very surprising, not to say incredible. The grey market spends a lot on leisure and vacations, for example. That applies equally to the USA. I've seen TV advertising in the USA aimed at older people for myself. So they sure as hell ought to care if they aren't watching. If US business schools teach that over 50s can be ignored they are being incredibly short sighted.

double post

It may be incredible, but it happens, in US tv ratings a lot of websites, such as aintitcool.com, report the 18-49 rating as the actual rating, not the total number of viewers.

There have been shows- Joan of Arcadia for example- that have been cancelled on US tv despite having a decent total number of viewers for their timeslot, but unfortunately for Joan most of them were north of 49.

Well, I must have either missed that bit or formed a different impression. I don't recall that at all.

Is that still true today? I'm surprised. I can understand how the older generation wasn't a target market as from the '60's, when the babyboom generation grew up with loads of money to spend thanks to a flowering economy, but with an ever older population and a declining economy I should think that that is exactly the generation where the money is today.

Jason was the exception - he treated everyone equally. He listened, was charming and engaging, talking with, rather than to, shared a joke and certainly didn't patronise or churn out the same old tired sales patter. Above all he had respect. Compare that with Alex and Kurt conducting their facial "over the hill" motorway survey!

Absolutely! With more stress, relationship breakdowns, and so a fresh chance to try new things, buy single property or turn their lives around, people are more adventurous and determined to make the most of it, with a - you only live once mentality! You bet that's where the money is!

They referred to old people as coffin dodgers several times. That is rude.

Must have missed that.

As I posted previously, the ageism was portrayed like never before, last night.

They are not in that age group so they cannot think or imagine what and how older people think and want.

At last old Al put them right but what hopeless shower they are.

If you dont know something, look it up, at least Jason had the right idea, older people are still people and want new exciting websites which make them interested enough to join. Research your target group, not just ask a few slanted questions.

Jason or Luisa should have asked Francesca or Neil what was the age range of the people they interviewed for their "market research" - the people they interviewed in the pub were considerably over 50.

People of my baby boomer generation, who maybe went to University, have a very different outlook from my mother's generation, who lived through WWII and many of them left school at 14.

I was suprised that no-one made the point last night that they all should have some idea of what folk in their 50s are like - thats the age of their own parents

Or have they all been so business focussed that they haven't actually spoken to mum & dad in recent years...

How old is Louisa? Her patronising, arrogant, and bigoted attitude was outrageous! Then she just came out with it! "I hate the over 50's!" If only she knew our secret....... we're the same!