Through most of my life I've been distinctly aware that I was lumped into Gen X (born 1978) with some of my aunts and uncles, while my sister (1980) and, more r

Through most of my life I've been distinctly aware that I was lumped into Gen X (born 1978) with some of my aunts and uncles, while my sister (1980) and, more recently, my wife (1981) were usually lumped into some other generation (the name of which has shifted every few years). I think what's really going on is that most of the advertisers ignored Gen X as a waste of marketing resources when Baby Boomers were always the pot of gold. Most of them are now looking back and realizing that they missed an opportunity at that crucial age range, and they're trying to make up for it by continuing to ignore Gen X and going straight for the Millennials. Of course, that's not to say that Gen X was completely ignored or that marketing doesn't work on them. There are clearly any number of instances in which they were targeted with some effect. However, I think that, in general, we live in a world which is still largely skewed in favor of the Baby Boomers, despite the fact that most of them are shifting into fixed incomes and/or continuing to work full-time well into retirement age simply because they do not feel they can retire (sometimes because they're still supporting their Gen X or Millennial children).