Thanks for sharing your opinion, Derek. If you read any of my books, you'll see that I'm usually pretty harsh concerning advertisers that throw down Boomer stereotypes. And, yes, stereotypical ads are often created by those who only have secondhand experience with Woodstock and the sixties. However, the “Memory Lane” ad inspires me because of the compensating narratives of generativity and family. The humor is not an indictment of an entire generation but rather the story of one zany character from the generation. Humor simply works in advertising, especially when it hits close to home. I reflect upon at least one longtime friend whose way of reacting to situations is very reminiscent of Grandma Woodstock, and she went to the three-day festival of "peace and love." Yes, the spot veers toward cheesiness, but "it’s in a way that fits the brand well," according to "Adweek." The ad's essential purpose is to demonstrate in a memorable way that the Outback can “go anywhere.” Mission accomplished. Concerning your theory that the ad was created by "a bunch of clueless kids age 28," the director was Lance Acord, who was born on September 9, 1964. He is known for his film work on "Lost in Translation," "Being John Malkovich." and "Adaptation." The Executive Creative Director was Randy Hughes who is around age 56 and has been with Carmichael Lynch Advertising, the agency, since 1998. The copywriter was Conn Newton, in his mid-40s, who, in addition to this spot, wrote the highly mature and sobering "They Lived" campaign for Subaru. My two colleagues who agree with me about this commercial have both written and published books on Boomer marketing and advertising. Everyone is entitled to an opinion when judging art/advertising, and there will rarely be agreement, especially with commercials that are edgy and not entirely PC. The bottom line in advertising is the "bottom line," and the folks at Subaru America just announced some noteworthy sales results: *Subaru sets a new all-time sales record in December 2015 of 582,675 vehicles; up 13.4 percent over 2014 *December 2015 marks best-ever sales month in company history *49th consecutive month of year-over-year growth *Best December ever for Legacy, Forester, WRX/STI, Outback and Crosstrek *Best year ever for Forester, WRX/STI, Outback and Crosstrek *29th consecutive month of more than 10,000 Foresters sold *22nd consecutive month of more than 10,000 Outbacks sold; best Outback month ever

"It is true that most of the older LTCi policies have had large premium increases. To protect consumers purchasing policies today, 41 states have passed strict pricing regulations. Consumers purchasing policies today are protected from the pricing mistakes of older policies." So, the same industry, and many of the same companies that sold older policies, including a policy to my wife, have corrected their misdeeds and miscalculations with the help of new state government regulations and stricter public sector oversight? That certainly gives me comfort to know my government is acting as a watchdog over the LTC insurance industry. I'm also charmed that bad-faith pricing behavior has now been cloaked in euphemistic language: "Long-Term Care Partnership Programs." I'm curious how much the LTC insurance industry has had a hand in shifting the potential burdens of consumer protection to state governments through lobbying and political influence. Further, your statistic of 7.2 million current LTC insurance policyholders seems impressive upon first glance, but there are 100 million+ consumers over age 50 in the United States, 76 million of whom are Baby Boomers. LTC insurance has not exactly caught fire with insurance consumers, and I'm guessing it's because of generally perceived deficiencies in all aspects of LTC insurance products, including the spurious costs of premiums and distrust of the industry. I have nothing to gain from critiquing LTC insurance or taking an editorial stand against these products as presently conceived. Maybe we should instead examine the benefits you derive financially, Scott, from LTC insurance before we become too reassured by your reassurances. Thanks for commenting anyway.