Folks With Mid-Life Crises and Libidos Appear in Daring Ads for 'Invisible' Hearing Aids

A new print and online campaign for "invisible" hearing aid brand Phonak Lyric is different for the category: it features middle-aged couples in intimate moments with bold and witty headlines like: "My midlife crisis is obvious. My hearing aid is not."

Other executions in the campaign, by New York agency Terri & Sandy, include "Tonight, I'm wearing nothing but my hearing aid," next to an image of a couple dressed for a glamorous event.

The campaign aims to eschew stereotypes and avoid the "emotional" advertising typical of the category, to proactively show how hearing aids are a solution to help people live life to the fullest. According to research, only 30% of the approximately 33 million Americans with some degree of hearing loss actually pursue treatment. "We saw an opportunity; to promote a breakthrough product with an equally breakthrough campaign," said Sandy Greenberg, CEO and co-founder of Terri & Sandy. "Lyric provides the complete invisibility that some hearing aid wearers desire. The result is feeling confident and free, with no limitations."

Lyric is the latest in a series of advertisers that are trying hard to portray older or middle aged people in a different light. U.K. insurance company Sun Life last week launched an ad by Mother London featuring older people partying and turning heads while refusing to go off on cruises, while a campaign by La Comunidad for tourism in Argentina recently showed seniors shouting and swearing while enjoying adventures in the country.