Jeffrey Wendelberger and Scott Devens
Our idea for teaching critical analysis of advertising goes like this:
We would first show students examples of advertisements from various media and help students deconstruct what the advertisements were doing to add value to a product that is not necessarily intrinsic to the product itself. We would then have students from groups. The groups would choose a product to work with. The kinds of products chosen would be up to individual teachers, but one idea would be to have groups choose from very mundane ordinary items that are in the everyday lives of students. Examples of this type of thing would include: pencils, pens, notebooks, or other items that are generally mundane and would engender little reason for students to feel any sense of inherent brand loyalty or value beyond the objects utilitarian use. Another idea for a set of products to choose from would be generic, common food or beverages from the school cafeteria--something the kids are very familiar with.

After students have chosen a product their teams would begin an advertising campaign around that product. In order to measure the impact of advertising, the groups would first design a market research survey for their product. The survey would measure such things as awareness of the product, appeal of the product, loyalty to the product, comparisons with other brands of the product, and price one would be willing to pay for the product. Students would then survey peers in the school to determine a profile of the product before the advertising.

Once the survey is complete, students would begin their advertising campaign. They would first brainstorm marketing ideas to make their product more appealing or associate it with positive outcomes. Groups would then begin their advertising campaign. They could choose any type of media to begin to raise the profile of their product. They might for example make a video or Imovie of their product showing it being used by popular kids in the school or make posters, etc. The possibilities would be open to anything they could imagine.

After a suitable length of time the groups would then administer their survey again and analyze the results. Students could then discuss their results and through the projects and discussions raise their awareness of how advertising create demand and feelings for products that is not necessarily intrinsic to the product. Students could then begin to analyze products and advertising in their own lives--things like shoes, clothes, watches, pop, etc.

Anne Holmgren and Dixie Boschee
Our idea was for a culminating activity in a unit about critical analysis of advertising. It would be a simulation of working at an ad firm. The kids would be put into partners and they would either be assigned a product, or they would choose from a list of products. They would get a certain amount of time to create a print advertising campaign based on the techniques and psychology they'd learned during the unit. After a few days of working on these ads, each pair would get a chance to "pitch" their ad to the rest of the class. On the final day of the unit, some sort of "sale" would be set up where the kids are all given an amount of (fake) money and get to "buy" products, based on the campaigns they've seen. It would all be a simulation, but the idea would be that the kids get to get into the heads of advertisers and try to figure out how to appeal to the largest audience possible.

Jennifer Larson
I’d like to set my students up with international pen pals through epals.com. Each student would receive a pen pal to converse with at least monthly; one monthly topic of discussion will be assigned by me. They will also be assigned a small group to discuss their findings in (this is a failsafe in case someone has a non-communicative e-pal). Two topics to discuss are the following: What TV shows and movies do you enjoy and what kind of picture do you get of the culture that they’re from? And what do you notice about advertising and the way products are marketed in your country? How do people regard advertising in your country? (I have a theory that in America we view advertising almost as a form of entertainment. I wonder if the same is true in other countries.). I’d like my students to consider their own and other cultures through international eyes.

One warning about e-pals: it doesn’t work well with near deadlines. Give plenty of time to complete.

Adrien Everest and Jamie Pehl
We would have our students pick two television commercials that they found convincing and/or intriguing and compare/contrast their advertising elements. The students would receive a list of advertising vocabulary much like the film terms so that they can accurately express their thoughts about the commercials. Then, after picking their 2 commercials, they would define different aspects of advertising in the commercials: pitches to different age groups, classes, or races. After describing each individual ad, they would compare the two and see what they liked about each one, if the interesting aspects were the same or not.
For example, if you look at the Dr. Pepper vs. Coca Cola ads, there is a focus on age, music, and setting. Dr. Pepper is often shown with country singers in a car or porch drinking pop as an everyday thing. Coke is shown with young people having a great time at a park and drinking coke while enjoying life. Using these basic elements, one could look at the advertising elements in commercials that affect us every day.

Kevin Lally
As far as advertising is concerned, today is as big as it gets. More TV ad campaigns are revealed today than any other day of the year. Whichever network has forked the colossal sum to purchase broadcasting rights, CBS this year, will see more ad revenue than during any other TV event. The Superbowl generates more advertising revenue than the Macy's day parade, more than Dick Clark's New Year's Eve, more than the State of the Union address. Aside from beer, chips and Ad controversies (moveon.org), Today is a prime day to consider the impact of advertising in our lives, and who is responsible for that impact.

The debate began in class the other day; does advertising promote culture or the other way around? Advertising does mirror our culture. It shows us both who we are and who everyone else is. We see a commercial for a new video game and we understand why they used the music, colors, and setting they did. Ad companies have our population down pat and they know that youthful people like America's ghetto culture and thus target that population with those tools. Ad companies understand that young wealthy couples like luxury sedans, and thus target young professionals as potential Lexus buyers rather than older empty nesters. Obviously then, young people enjoy a Lexus more than older people. Obviously then, men like beer more than women. Obviously then, ad companies play us off of our stereotypes.

In the Oedipal story, Oedipus's parents were told by the blind prophet, Tyreseus, that their son would kill his father and marry his mother. To prevent this horrible fate, they sent Oedipus to be killed on a mountaintop. He was saved by a shepherd and lived to see the ruinous demise of his family, just as the blind prophet foretold. This story has many applications. In one plain sense, a blind man told a family something that created a self-fulfilling prophesy.

This tragedy could have been prevented in two ways; the blind man could have withheld his prophecy or the family could have ignored it. As we are unable to shut our eyes to the world at large, especially one so hungry for our attention as ours, let us consider what may have happened should Mr. and Mrs. Oedipus have ignored the blind old man. Oedipus would have lived and known his parents, loved them, argued with them, and worked alongside them. In those circumstances, he would never have committed patricide and incest, leaving Freud to his own pathologies.

Advertising is a blind mirror, but a noisy one. It cannot predict the future, but it can create such a powerful world which, however false, will capture our imagination and rule our actions and lifestyle choices. It is patently irresponsible to claim that advertising has any power over us. Keep litigation and advertising on the opposite sides on the street and maintain people's responsibility for their behavior.

Katrina Thomson and Jennie Viland
We would have students videotape their favorite TV show and then have them analyze some/all of the ads broadcast during that show. Students would look at the assumptions, discourses and techniques used to position viewers to buy the products advertised and discuss the intended audience based on the kind of show chosen and the likely demographics. We would try to focus students' attention on identifying not only what is IN the ads, but what is missing: i.e. what editing techniques have been used to persuade the viewer. This could be an individual or small group project and students would share their findings with the class. Students could connect this advertising in TV to similar techniques in other media: magazines, newspapers, malls, movies, billboards etc.

Kathryn Connors and Amy Gustafson
Amy and I would do an activity in which we would look at ads in two different mediums--magazines and TV. To begin, with magazines, we would have them consider whether or not a particular ad could be placed in a different magazine. They would have to consider the intended audience of the magazines and see if the ad fits within another magazine audience. For example, would an add from "Rolling Stone" magazine fit into a "Scientific American?"
For TV ads, students could access ads online from the Superbowl and other ads that have been prolific in advertising to see what makes ads effective. Depending on how long we had for the activity, after studying the ads, students could make an ad of their own.

Daniel Gough and Adam Banse
We would have students pay particular attention to gender roles within advertising. Students would be assigned a TV viewing assignment where they try to count how many adverts are geared towards females versus males. The activities can then be broadened to all aspects of advertisng and students would pay attention to which adverts are directed toward which gender and how each sex is portrayed within advertisements. What we want students to get at is how advertising constructs notions of femininity and masculinity. A culminating project could be to have students conceive their own advertisements that parody or subvert traditional gender roles as they perceive them.

Tamela McCartney and Kimberly Sy
We would have the students look at two different ads for the same product, but in different media (television and magazine, television and the web, magazine and web, etc.). First the students will need to determine the target audience for each ad by looking at discourses, images, and the category of media in which it fits (teen magazine, prime-time sitcom, etc). Then, in partners, the students will determine why each of the companies putting out the ads might have chosen that certain media. Who did they assume to influence? What about the ad made it effective/ineffective in the place it was given? Would another form of media been more effective? Why?
Hopefully, this will help students look critically at how and why ads are placed amongst their favorite shows. Also, it will help them understand the underlying motives of the advertisers.

Meghan Scott and Megan Dwyer-Gaffey
We would ask students to bring in copies of their favorite magazines and then we would break into small groups and ask the students to look at a few ads and discuss (then later present to the whole class) who the audience is, what they're selling, what assumptions are being made, and whether or not it is effective.
Then, keeping that in mind, we will ask students to break into small groups again and imagine a product they want to sell. After they decide on the product, they will create an advert for it (print or multimedia) keeping in mind the elements they discussed about the ads in the magazines.
The goal is for them to "get inside" the mind of advertising creators to see what motives and methods are present and constructing our reality and our consumerism.

Kari Gladen and Katie Schultz
We planned a lesson around the critical analysis of different advertising mediums such as movies, TV, magazines, billboards, and radio. We would divide the class into groups of 3-5 students asking that each group select a medium and do a critical analysis of it by answering the following questions: 1. What type of audience is it attempting to persuade? 2. Is it perpetuating any stereotypes about femininity, masculinity, class, race, etc.? 3. What techniques does it use that are explicit and/or implicit? 4. Do you think it is effective?/Would you buy the product? Why or why not?
After the initial activity, we would ask that students design their own advertisements focusing on a particular audience. (if possible, we would have students design ads in the form of the media they studied) The class as a whole would then critique their peers? ads and identify the techniques they employed in order to sell their product/idea.

Erin Warren and Erin Grahmann
This lesson will take place over a course of five to ten 50-minute class periods.
Overview: Students will apply and identify aspects of a critical lens to an ad, discover the biases hidden in the ad, and then reconstruct a new version of that ad that eliminates bias.
The class will be divided into groups of between 3 to 5 students. They will be challenged to apply a critical lens of their choice (or the teacher can specify a specific lens) to a television advertisement of their choice. After studying that ad, the group will need to turn in a report of what they discovered about that ad when applying their lens, how these discoveries reveal bias, and what steps they will take in re-filming this ad in order to eliminate said bias(es). After this report has been reviewed and accepted by the teacher, the students’ next step will be to write a script for their ad and map out storyboards. Once this process has been fully revised, the groups will work on filming, editing, and presenting their ads to the class, alongside the original. Students will have to give reasonings for changes in script, camera angles, actor representations, etc.

Anne Holmgren and Dixie Boschee
Our idea was for a culminating activity in a unit about critical analysis of advertising. It would be a simulation of working at an ad firm. The kids would be put into partners or groups of three and they would either be assigned a product, or they would choose from a list of products. They would get a certain amount of time to create a print advertising campaign based on the techniques and psychology they'd learned during the unit. After a few days of working on these ads, each pair would get a chance to "pitch" their ad to the rest of the class. On the final day of the unit, some sort of "sale" would be set up where the kids are all given an amount of (fake) money and get to "buy" products, based on the campaigns they've seen. It would all be a simulation, but the idea would be that the kids get to get into the heads of advertisers and try to figure out how to appeal to the largest audience possible.

Rachel Godlewski and Jessie Dockter
This activity is designed to have students think critically about themselves as consumers and to analyze the advertisement campaigns used by the companies that produce their favorite products. Students should choose one or two of their products (their favorite name brand clothing, shoes, soda, candy, or types of technology they use most such as Ipods, or game boys etc.) They should first describe the words that come to mind when they think of these products. Then describe why they use the product and how it affects their lives.

Then, as a form of research, students should search for various examples of advertisements used by the companies producing those products. They could investigate where ads for their favorite products appear and the frequency of the ads. Students may find examples in magazines, newspapers, on billboards, and as television commercials. Students could then determine what advertising techniques are being used for that product and draw conclusions about what image the company is trying to create for the product. Students could determine if they themselves are part of the intended audiences of those ads. Once students share their findings, the class may discover similar techniques that are being used for reaching kids their age. They could also practice identifying the various forms of advertising techniques: bandwagon, testimonials, etc. They could discuss the appeal of the logos used by their favorite companies.

After researching and discussing, students could recreate ads for those products for other audiences. For example, what might an ad for McDonalds look like in a magazine or during a show for teenagers compared with a magazine or show for adults -- or the same product geared toward male vs. female audiences. A movie like Lord of the Rings, for example, has different trailers for different audiences (changing the focus from the romance to the action, etc.)

Katrina Thomson and Jennie Viland
In this election year, political campaign ads are particularly relevant as topics of discussion in the classroom. Political ads are a powerful influence over a fundamental American right (the right to vote). Various analysis activities could be used in the classroom for students to analyze the language used and rhetorical devices and strategies of political advertising. Many comparisons could be drawn between the current political contests as well as drawing on previous election campaigns. For example, the rise of negative advertising in the 2000 presidential campaign unleashed a public backlash against such ads, which has influenced subsequent campaign advertising language use and rhetorical strategies. Students could be assigned to track a certain political party or candidate and analyze the language and image use and then compare/contrast this candidate to his/her opponent. Students would have a wide range of choice since this could be either at the local, state or national level. This activity could go hand in hand with a unit on persuasive writing in speeches. As a final activity, students could design their own ad campaigns using these persuasive and rhetorical techniques, which would demonstrate their understanding and application of these techniques and strategies.

Louise Covert and Becca Robertson
We are following through and building on our last activity with students examining the film, Romeo and Juliet.
We would have students watch the film and look for advertisements throughout the film For example, a Mercedes Benz vehicle (the symbol) or a Nike symbol on a t-shirt, for instance. We could encourage the students to look for different products that they know or recognize. We would ask them to write down as many as they are able to identify in the film.
After viewing a segment of the film, students talk about what they've recognized. We invite them to think and talk about what the symbols or signs mean using a semiotic analysis to these ads - guiding the students in considering what meaning is attached to these symbols and associated products.
We would also talk about the intertextual connections between the product and the film and how the product is being represented in the film (associated with what character type(s), etc.).
We would provide guiding questions for discussion and to create scaffolds for student conversation.

Amanda Furth
Students could find three examples of a specific advertising technique from magazines and then answer the questions 1) what advertising technique is being used & how do you know? 2) what message is being delivered by the advertisement & how do you know? 3) is the advertisement effective, why / why not?

Lindsay Kroog and Jodi Laframboise
Our teaching idea comes from a book called, Critical Encounters In High School English. It is by Deborah Appleman who has some great ideas (I heard her speak when I was an undergrad) about teaching literary theory to students. Her idea is to teach this kind of critical analysis by telling students to look through the world with different colored lenses. She has them put on colored sunglasses as an opening activity and describing how they see the world differently. She then goes on to explain the different lenses with which we can view literature. For instance, one activity she has students looking through the rose-colored glasses: the feminist lens. We like the idea of using the colored lenses to help explain and introduce what the students will be doing when they are looking at literature in different ways.

Reid Westrem and Brock Dubbels
With so many excellent ideas for analyzing and critiquing ads, the countercultural thing might be to look for something good in advertising. Granted, it might take some effort, but it seems that there are at least two things that could be said.
First, there is such a thing as a positive ad. Second, there are many things we in education can learn from advertisers. After all, we want to have students learn and remember things -- and advertisers have developed sophisticated techniques for making people do just that. It would be interesting to read a book or attend a seminar to learn how to apply those black-magic tricks to learning something worthwhile in the classroom.
After studying ads, students could be asked to create a positive ad. This is called a public service announcement, or PSA. The main source of PSAs in America is the Ad Council, and on their website
students can find tips for how to make a good PSA. They can combine these tips with those on the Adbusters website ("How to Create Your Own Print Ad"), which is also discussed on our course website at the end of Module 6. The Adbusters information (choosing an objective, audience, format, concept, visuals and copy) applies easily to a TV ad as well. A list of topics could be given, or students could choose their own. In either case, encourage them to tailor their message to a specific local audience using specific local information. If equipment is available, they could film their PSAs and show them to the class. If there's no equipment, they can make PSA storyboards and present them to the class.
This could be tied in with aspects of teaching writing, such as understanding purpose and audience and clarifying a focused message.

Module 6: Word document

A Broader Definition of Advertising Instruction

Advertising Drives Content

Why Study Ads?

Application of Semiotic Analysis to Ads

Rhetorical/Audience Analysis of Ads

Critical Discourse Analysis of Ads

Advertising as Propaganda: Public Relations Ads

Advertising and Idealized Gender Images

Advertising and Alcohol/Tobacco

Advertising and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Advertising on the Web

Marketing in Schools

Political Advertising

Product Placements

Creating or Parodying Ads

References

Teaching Activities