One trick us marketers and advertisers have been able to rely on over the last forty years or so is to make fun of old people. They are usually portrayed as feeble-minded, physically weak, out of touch, incontenent. The more of a caricature we can make them, the bigger the laugh.

While Clara Peller's "Where's the Beef?" rant in the 1980's may not have started this trend, that approach certainly has been mimicked ever since.

But all that's about to change. Simply because Boomers, the most influencial cohort in America, are themselves growing old enough to be bothered by the jokes.

And when Boomers want to change accepted behavoir in American society to better suit their self- image, they do it.

View what happened to racism starting in the 1960s. Sure, Boomers' parents were in charge when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, but it was Boomers of every race who created the Woodstock nation and made "cross-over" successes of Jimi Hendrix, Diana Ross, the Jackson Five. Boomers' TV habits made hits of the mixed race shows "Mod Squad," "Chico and the Man," "Sanford & Son," and "The Jeffersons."

Racism was sent to the outskirts of mainstream America.

Boomers burned their bras and entered corporate America. They fought for equal pay. They smashed through the glass ceilings. They wanted to have it all and made Helen Reddy's "I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore" their anthem.

And sexism diminished.

A reporter called us the other day riding this logic train: Everyone admires Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton is a Baby Boomer. Bill Clinton had quadruple bypass heart surgery. Therefore all Boomers should be worried about heart disease.

Tempting as it was to agree with her so she could write her story, I instead pointed out that perhaps not the entire Boomer electorate voted for Mr. Clinton the first, or even the second time (he never got more than 50% of the vote period because Mr. Perot was in the mix). As a result, perhaps not all Boomers hold him up as their leading man, much less their cardio-vascular role model.

But all this Clinton heart surgery news did get me thinking.

The LA Times on September 8, 2004 ran an article about the luxury car maker, a division of Toyota, and their plans to revamp their product line so it appeals to a younger, less Boomer market.

We had to double-check the date on the masthead as we read the piece to make sure it wasn't in fact April 1st, because it contains some of the most foolish sounding things we've heard in recent years from such an "astute" marketer.

Let's share the folly [but you'll have to listen to our rant]:

The article says Lexus grew from nothing to become the leading luxury car seller in America in 15 short years because "Lexus...astutely targeted a customer base of baby boomers entering their peak earning years."

[Okay, we're with you so far...when do we swerve off the road?]

The article continues..."But rivals sell to the same crowd of fiftysomethings. And in recent years General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac, BMW and DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz all have done a better job of attracting the more serious automotive enthusiasts among boomers by offering models with bigger engines, faster acceleration, stiffer handling and more daring styling.

"Dennis Clements, 59, head of U.S. operations for Lexus, part of Toyota Motor Sales USA in Torrance, acknowledges that the brand's core market of aging boomers 'is not a good one to build an image in.'" [Emphasis added!]

[Huh? Who's been buying your cars? Who made you number one?]

The article goes on..."To keep the marque fresh and draw younger buyers, Lexus is redesigning its entire lineup over the next four years. 'You'll see sportier cars, more powerful cars and trucks, [with] a wider range of engines,' he said."

[He's an idiot. But wait, he gets even dumber:]

"First up early next year is the...hybrid RX400, with a base price expected to top $45,000..."

[Pray tell, Mr. Clements, who has $45,000 to spend on a new car? A 30-year-old or a 50-year old?]

"For all the new Lexus models in the works, Clements talks a lot about the need to add a flagship vehicle priced at around $100,000...It could be a four-door sedan to compete with Mercedes-Benz's big S-Series sedan (the top-end model costs about $122,000), and BMW's redesigned 7-Series (around $117,000). Mercedes, Clements points out, has a dozen models that sell for $70,000-plus, 'while at Lexus we have none.'"

[Whap, whap, whap goes the stupid stick. What planet does Mr. Clements inhabit where a $100,000 car is attainable to anyone young who isn't a pro sports athlete or Mark Cuban?]

[End of rant. Apologies to Dennis Miller.]

What Lexus fails to understand is that the Boomer market, aged 40 to 58, is huge and will be buying luxury automobiles for 30 to 40 more years. The "aging Boomer" is not one person, but 78 million. With the highest discretionary income in their lives. The least amount of debt in their lives. The most appreciation for the finer things. And so and so on.

It is our sincere hope that Lexus sees the light and does the math -- there simply aren't that many under-40-year-olds period, much less those who can afford a Lexus. Revamping the product to be relevant to them and presumably less relevant to the very audience that created and built the brand is about the dumbest thing we've heard in quite a while.

Companies often forget that they don't own the brand, their consumers' do. Just ask Coca-Cola who owns Coke.