"Mom Enough" for You?

Friday morning our team had a talk from one of our advertising agency's planners, the one who is considered expert on Millennials. He said that this generation has always had the internet and, therefore, so much access to information that they feel rather cynical about much that's said about them.

OK, I asked, then how to they feel about being demographically sliced and diced? Specifically I was thinking of a certain fast-food company that does virtually identical commercials with African American actors for airing on BET. Has this kind of advertising proven effective? Is it viewed as outreach or pandering? I was hoping for some facts and figures.

Instead he answered in general terms, saying that it's too soon to say definitively how it impacts sales, but that anecdotally Millennial consumers are annoyed by it. He likened it to me watching a commercial obviously aimed at me during a sports broadcast. "You know they [the advertisers] are saying to themselves, 'Mom enough for you?'"

I understood his point, but I was taken aback. I have never had children and even if I did, I'm now 56. If I had become a mother, my kids would either be finishing high school or in college now. I don't think that now I'd be the target for 'Mom' messaging, even in an alternate universe.

I decided to be complimented that I look young enough to have a younger kid. And it's better than hearing, "Golden Girl enough for you?"