Fair play or age discrimination? ‘Baby boomers’ are allegedly being unfairly excluded from Koala Mattress' year of free rent competition

In a controversial twist of events for Australian competition culture, Koala Mattress's latest offer has left many in the baby boomer generation peeved, to say the least.

The mattress company has recently rolled out a website, BoomerBlocker.com, that is basically designed to filter out baby boomers from taking part in an exciting new competition.



It’s an undeniable fact that the cost of living in Australia has escalated at an alarming pace. Budgeting for rent or mortgage repayments can often feel like playing a high-stakes game with no certainty of winning.

That's why Koala Mattress company's recent competition promising struggling Australians a year's break from rent or mortgage payments sounded like a godsend.

Well, at least for those born after 1965.


koala1.jpg
Koala Mattress is offering an ‘intriguing’ promotion to ‘struggling’ Australians born after 1965. Credit: Koala Mattress

The competition, named 'Boomer Blocker', is allegedly discriminating against older Australians.

While visitors to the site won’t be asked for their date of birth, the company themselves said they designed the questions so it would deliberately disadvantage the baby boomer generation.



‘In a bid to stop the golden generation from claiming any more good deals, Koala is rolling out a first-of-its-kind "Boomer Blocker", a generationally biased questionnaire in which Aussies will need to answer as part of their application,’ it said.

The website continued: ‘[This] has been purposefully designed to try and filter out boomers and ensure the offer is available to everyone from generations X, Y and Z.’


koala2.jpg
The Boomer Blocker is essentially designed to keep the baby boomer generation and instead extend these benefits to the younger generation. Credit: Burst/Pexels

In one question, the user will be asked to explain the meaning of the term ‘Brangelina’, which is a reference to Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s combined names.

Another question asked what pressing Control C and Control V in succession does on a keyboard. This is a command prompt to make it easier to copy and paste words or images.



Defending their stance, Rory Costello, Koala's Chief Commercial Officer, said that baby boomers had comparatively easier access to homeownership than the younger generations, and this competition aimed to ‘level the field’.


koala3.jpg
Another question asked what ‘boujee’ means. This is another term that describes someone living in luxury and is derived from the word ‘bourgeois’. Credit: Koala

‘We wanted to give Millennials, Gen Z’ers (referring to the generation born between the late 1990s to early 2010s), and everyone in-between the opportunity to have their rent or mortgage paid for an entire year, so they can use their cash for other luxuries that boomers enjoy daily,’ he added.

While some view this as a marketing gimmick, this move has understandably sparked conversations around age discrimination.

Just last month, Australia's outgoing age discrimination commissioner, Kay Patterson, called out ageist jokes.



‘Ageism is the least understood "ism",’ she said on a radio show.

‘We understand about sexism, we understand about racism. But most of us in our bones have some ageist views and joke about it sometimes, and jokes that would not be accepted in other areas,’ she continued.

‘“You look good for your age”. You know, we don't say to people, “You look good for being a woman” or “You look good for being an Indian or something”. We just have these strange attitudes to older people.’

Touching upon the generational financial disparity, it's crucial to reflect upon the fact that baby boomers, despite battling 18 per cent interest rates during the late 1980s, didn't face the debilitating debt-to-income ratios as the younger borrowers of today.

In 1989, Sydney’s median house price was $170,850, five times the average full-time salary of $26,874 after a 20 per cent mortgage deposit.

Compared to now, the median house price of $1.324 million is 11 times the average salary of $94,000 with the same 20 per cent mortgage deposit.

This is well above the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's 'six' threshold for mortgage stress.



Reports show that single average-income earners now in their thirties or forties can't buy a typical Sydney house on their own. Melbourne, with a median house price of $918,971, is also out of reach, as is Brisbane, with a mid-point price of $806,781—unless a single borrower moved to a far, outer suburb.
Key Takeaways

  • Koala mattress company has launched a competition to cover the rent or mortgage costs of Australians for a year but has intentionally designed it to disadvantage baby boomers.
  • Former age discrimination commissioner Kay Patterson has criticised the move, reminding the public of the ongoing issue of ageism.
  • Rory Costello, Koala's chief commercial officer, defended the competition, stating that it is intended to give younger generations a financial break similar to what baby boomers were able to enjoy.
  • The competition rules and focal points have sparked a debate on the different economic circumstances faced by various generations in Australia.
Koala’s Boomer Blocker website is operating from July 31 to August 27.

But whether the marketing stunt is a sign of ageism or merely recognising a ‘generational divide in income inequality’ in Australia—that’s for you to decide. Let us know in the comments what you think!
 
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No doubt they will be happy to take our $$

Seriously there are many boomers still doing it tough. We should all log on Who do they think they are to assume we won’t be able to answer their questions. Don’t play that s*^t with an oldie. We didn’t get this old by accident. We are there you are yet to get there. BOOMer
 
Total discrimination and I thought the pre-Mandela South Africa was bad. This is disgusting. Neither myself nor my offspring nor their offspring and a vast array of friends will ever do business with Koala ever again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Leenie
Here here I am also one of the people who worked their bums off to get what we have , today they want it all NOW
They should learn to save as we did before buying and they might appreciate it more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheBear
We built our own smàll house, literally. Took 14 years, earning and saving for next sttep of the way.When we moved in we had a mattress on bare boards, Koolgardie safe, clay floor in bathroom, borrowed furniture, electricity off the builders pole etc etc. Never dined out, or for a coffee. Husband had 2 jobs and studied at night.
The problem seems to be in the expectations of many in the younger generations. The make the best with what you have attitude seems to have generally escaped. No mending socks, turning sheets sides to middle, redesigning clothing etc. I am in the generation not labelled, before the post war boom.
I think you are known as the 'silent' generation born between 1925 and 1944. 🤫
 
Let's all be heroes and enter, and hopefully a baby boomer will win, and foil this evil scheme :)
The questions were ridiculously easy. One of the questions I got is "Planking", which btw is the image of a horizontal person being carried, looks like at Stonehenge.
Actually, planking (AKA the lying down game) was a social media craze in the 90s where people lay face down in unusual or incongruous public places. Comes from being like a wooden plank. Like most fads on social media kids were taking ever-increasing risks with where they did it to the point where many were injured and at least one lost their lives.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheBear
We built our own smàll house, literally. Took 14 years, earning and saving for next sttep of the way.When we moved in we had a mattress on bare boards, Koolgardie safe, clay floor in bathroom, borrowed furniture, electricity off the builders pole etc etc. Never dined out, or for a coffee. Husband had 2 jobs and studied at night.
The problem seems to be in the expectations of many in the younger generations. The make the best with what you have attitude seems to have generally escaped. No mending socks, turning sheets sides to middle, redesigning clothing etc. I am in the generation not labelled, before the post war boom.
The generation that we all admired. I am not saying that the younger generations want too much, Its just that each generation want to better themselves and have an easier life than their parents did. I know my parents did, they did not want the austerity of their parents and worked hard to give themselves and their kids a better life, its the working hard bit that seems to escape most younger generations now. Not sure if the parents can be blamed for that though, I know that I was a spoiled princess growing up but when I left home I did not expect that the world would be given to me on a plate, I knew I would have to work for it, that point seems to have escaped the generation after me.
 
In a controversial twist of events for Australian competition culture, Koala Mattress's latest offer has left many in the baby boomer generation peeved, to say the least.

The mattress company has recently rolled out a website, BoomerBlocker.com, that is basically designed to filter out baby boomers from taking part in an exciting new competition.



It’s an undeniable fact that the cost of living in Australia has escalated at an alarming pace. Budgeting for rent or mortgage repayments can often feel like playing a high-stakes game with no certainty of winning.

That's why Koala Mattress company's recent competition promising struggling Australians a year's break from rent or mortgage payments sounded like a godsend.

Well, at least for those born after 1965.


View attachment 26310
Koala Mattress is offering an ‘intriguing’ promotion to ‘struggling’ Australians born after 1965. Credit: Koala Mattress

The competition, named 'Boomer Blocker', is allegedly discriminating against older Australians.

While visitors to the site won’t be asked for their date of birth, the company themselves said they designed the questions so it would deliberately disadvantage the baby boomer generation.



‘In a bid to stop the golden generation from claiming any more good deals, Koala is rolling out a first-of-its-kind "Boomer Blocker", a generationally biased questionnaire in which Aussies will need to answer as part of their application,’ it said.

The website continued: ‘[This] has been purposefully designed to try and filter out boomers and ensure the offer is available to everyone from generations X, Y and Z.’


View attachment 26311
The Boomer Blocker is essentially designed to keep the baby boomer generation and instead extend these benefits to the younger generation. Credit: Burst/Pexels

In one question, the user will be asked to explain the meaning of the term ‘Brangelina’, which is a reference to Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s combined names.

Another question asked what pressing Control C and Control V in succession does on a keyboard. This is a command prompt to make it easier to copy and paste words or images.



Defending their stance, Rory Costello, Koala's Chief Commercial Officer, said that baby boomers had comparatively easier access to homeownership than the younger generations, and this competition aimed to ‘level the field’.


View attachment 26312
Another question asked what ‘boujee’ means. This is another term that describes someone living in luxury and is derived from the word ‘bourgeois’. Credit: Koala

‘We wanted to give Millennials, Gen Z’ers (referring to the generation born between the late 1990s to early 2010s), and everyone in-between the opportunity to have their rent or mortgage paid for an entire year, so they can use their cash for other luxuries that boomers enjoy daily,’ he added.

While some view this as a marketing gimmick, this move has understandably sparked conversations around age discrimination.

Just last month, Australia's outgoing age discrimination commissioner, Kay Patterson, called out ageist jokes.



‘Ageism is the least understood "ism",’ she said on a radio show.

‘We understand about sexism, we understand about racism. But most of us in our bones have some ageist views and joke about it sometimes, and jokes that would not be accepted in other areas,’ she continued.

‘“You look good for your age”. You know, we don't say to people, “You look good for being a woman” or “You look good for being an Indian or something”. We just have these strange attitudes to older people.’

Touching upon the generational financial disparity, it's crucial to reflect upon the fact that baby boomers, despite battling 18 per cent interest rates during the late 1980s, didn't face the debilitating debt-to-income ratios as the younger borrowers of today.

In 1989, Sydney’s median house price was $170,850, five times the average full-time salary of $26,874 after a 20 per cent mortgage deposit.

Compared to now, the median house price of $1.324 million is 11 times the average salary of $94,000 with the same 20 per cent mortgage deposit.

This is well above the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's 'six' threshold for mortgage stress.



Reports show that single average-income earners now in their thirties or forties can't buy a typical Sydney house on their own. Melbourne, with a median house price of $918,971, is also out of reach, as is Brisbane, with a mid-point price of $806,781—unless a single borrower moved to a far, outer suburb.
Key Takeaways

  • Koala mattress company has launched a competition to cover the rent or mortgage costs of Australians for a year but has intentionally designed it to disadvantage baby boomers.
  • Former age discrimination commissioner Kay Patterson has criticised the move, reminding the public of the ongoing issue of ageism.
  • Rory Costello, Koala's chief commercial officer, defended the competition, stating that it is intended to give younger generations a financial break similar to what baby boomers were able to enjoy.
  • The competition rules and focal points have sparked a debate on the different economic circumstances faced by various generations in Australia.
Koala’s Boomer Blocker website is operating from July 31 to August 27.

But whether the marketing stunt is a sign of ageism or merely recognising a ‘generational divide in income inequality’ in Australia—that’s for you to decide. Let us know in the comments what you think!
So whats new, almost every organisation does not want to know you if older then 65. Try hiring a motor vehicle, buying Insurance, participating in surveys- the list is endless.
 

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