Students will view magazine ads and discuss advertising techniques. Then, students will work in small cooperative groups, find five ads, analyze them and share what they learned.
Ad Analysis
The study of advertisement analysis can be quite interesting. Have you ever wondered why certain advertisements are memorable and make you want to buy the product? Advertisers and marketers use an arsenal of techniques to sell products.
Teaching these advertisement techniques can be a fun lesson. And, many states’ language arts standards and indicators include them under identifying analyzing the persuasive techniques used in presentations and media messages.
Preparation for Advertising Lesson
Materials Needed: A large box of old magazines, construction paper, markers, colored pencils, and glue sticks
Students will need to view terms and definitions for A-M P-W , which are part one and two of this lesson series. The terms can be turned into a handout for the students.
Understanding Advertising Techniques
In order to teach students techniques, students need to see examples of advertisements and the techniques used. The teacher needs to select 6-10 magazine print advertisements to show the advertisement techniques used in the lists.
For example, in the advertisement for Pepsi , the advertisers used the persuasive technique of testimonial. Ray Charles is featured on the piano with a Diet Pepsi sitting next to him. “You Got the Right One Baby” is the slogan Pepsi used during this time period, and it is featured on the advertisement. The women and Ray Charles seem to be laughing and to be having a good time. This is an example of the transfer technique. Drinking Diet Pepsi can help you to have a good time.
Lesson Steps for Cooperative Group Activity
Preparation: Write each technique on copy paper. Tape the copy paper on the wall. The papers need to be spaced out so that students can group the ads on the wall when they present their findings.
Step 1 – Show students 6-10 print magazine advertisements and discuss the techniques used.
Step 2 – Place students in pairs or in small cooperative groups of three-to-four students.
Step 3 – Each group needs to find four-to-five magazine ads. The students need to tell what techniques are used in each advertisement. They should write the technique neatly on construction paper, note cards, or Post-Its and attach it to the advertisement.
Step 4 – Direct the students to share what they found. Then they need to tape the advertisement on the wall next to the technique that the group shared.
Step 5 – When all of the advertisements are taped on the wall, discuss if any groups misplaced the advertisements, or if some advertisements use several techniques.
Students should enjoy this study of advertisement analysis. In addition, teachers will have a colorful display on the classroom walls.
Resources:
Advertisement Analysis, https://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MAinTV/analad.html
Advertisement Work Sheet, https://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/webquest/content/pdfs/unit1worksheet.pdf
This post is part of the series: Advertisement Lesson Series
This series of lessons will teach students the basics of advertising. Part one of this series will give a list of advertising definitions A-M. Part two will give definitions P-W. The other three lessons will teach students how to identify the terms in ads in a variety of media.
