Marketing the Elderly

Ask anyone opposed to gambling, and they will tell you that once the slot machine was invented it was all down hill from there. Charles Fey invented that first slot machine in 1895, and more than 100 years later, they are considered to be the most addictive form of gambling, and many would like to see every one destroyed – just as they have destroyed the lives of so many.

Story after story of slot machine addiction gets told around the group at a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, and sadly many of them are quite elderly. Men and women in their retirement years talking of how they spent every last dime they had on the slot machines, and had to go back to work because they had nothing left.

With every state except for Hawaii and Utah allowing some form of gambling, the ubiquitous nature of the slot machine has made it a dangerous thing for many. Not only that, but the casinos are targeting the elderly as they know that they will come play the slot machines, especially during the day time hours when things are a little slower for them. They give them bus rides, coupons, cash for play, and prizes – all to lure them in to leave their money at the slot machines.

The United States Administration on Aging says that senior citizens are the fastest growing age group in America, and they are going to the slot machines as fast as they can. It is happening all across the country, as casinos offer them more and more to get them in, and then they spend their days playing the slot machines at a casino. According to Rutgers University, in 1975 35% of adults 65 and older had gambled in their lifetime – in 2001 more than 81% had gambled, with 69% of them having done it within the past year.

Back to August 2007 Archive.