I have always watched TV commercials for ‘assisted living communities’ with envy.
I know it’s marketing, but it kinda sounds perfect to me.
You have your own apartment — your own space — but someone else cleans it…and cooks your meals. In the advertisements, the homes are surrounded by beautifully landscaped grounds that someone else maintains. And you have access to a variety of social activities that someone else organizes.
Note all the “someone elses” in this scenario. It sounds amazing.
I have to wonder if assisted living is wasted on people of retirement age. Busy working folk would appreciate it so much more.
Well, now a cruise ship is offering the same thing right onboard. The aptly named Utopia, set to sail in 2013, will sell half of its cabins as ‘floating homes’ and rent the rest.
A two-bedroom, 1,400-square-foot space will cost around $3.7 million; a 6,600-square-foot four-bedroom, three-bath suite — around $26 million. (Heck, that’s Manhattan real estate prices.) But it sounds like the suites are going to be — excuse the pun — decked out: hardwood floors, marble kitchen counters, recessed lighting, walk-in closets, fireplaces, and a private balcony.
Floating home residents will have their own private restaurant, lounge, and gym located on the upper decks of the ship, but will also be able to enjoy the ship’s three swimming pools, tennis courts, shops, and restaurants. The ship is also rumored to include an outdoor movie theater, miniature golf course, and “lazy river” that will snake around the deck.
Now, I’ve only been on a couple of cruises, so I’m not sure I could live on a boat, but if you’re going to go the ‘assisted living’ route — and you have the cash — I say hit the open seas.
You’ll get all the help from those ‘someone elses’…and nifty towel animals, too.
But then again, I don’t have a pie fairy like Willis Welch.
Snooze button
Prudential’s current television campaign, entitled “Day One,” features men and women enjoying their first day of retirement. Having enough money to do so comfortably may be the underlying message, but Prudential is smart enough to focus on why it’s so desirable.
More time to spend with family. Travel. Enjoy your hobbies. Volunteer. And the image that made me smile and shake my head in ready agreement…
No more alarm clocks.
Since today is Sunday, many of us — retired or not — got to skip the alarm. Now, close your eyes and imagine….
One day you can take a sledge hammer to that thing.
For realsies.
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Posted in Advertising, Business, Commentary, Humor, Life, Travel, Vacation
Tagged advertising, advertising campaign, alarm clocks, Business, commentary, family, Humor, life, Prudential, Relationships, retirement, television ads, Travel, TV