Jitterbug Advertisement Analysis

One frosty, November morning Warren, a 92-year-old, sat in his favorite chair watching as a violent blizzard blew around outside his window. As the blizzard slowly turned the world from fall to winter, Warren began thinking of his first snowstorm as a boy. He thought of how fun it was to sled down the big hill in town, even when he crashed and received a face full of snow! Then, out of nowhere his house goes dark and the usual hum of the heater can no longer be heard. Warren realizes his power went out and unfortunately it could get very cold, very fast. Trying not to panic, he reaches for his brand new Smartphone. Before this phone, Warren had a trustworthy flip-phone; however, his grandchildren had talked him into getting a new one since flip-phones were “out of style”. Warren's eyesight at 92 was not the best so trying to run the phone was not easy. Once he figured out how to turn his new phone on, Warren could already feel his

Jitterbug didn’t randomly choose the Smithsonian magazine to put their advertisement in; they chose it for their mature audience. If this advertisement had been in a Seventeen or Sports Illustrated magazine, how many people reading those would want a tacky flip-phone instead of a fancy smartphone? The Smithsonian audience is much different from those magazines. According to Carolynn Kennedy, a writer for the Engage Culture Blog, “The Smithsonian is a very prestigious magazine that…is geared towards those individuals who are of a more mature age.” Meaning Smithsonian readers tend to have reached an age where their hearing is declining, they need glasses for more than just fine print, and they didn’t grow up using smartphones—making them the perfect candidate for a Jitterbug flip-phone with loud speakers, big buttons, and easy programming. That is what makes the Smithsonian the ideal magazine to advertise for Jitterbug