INTASC Standard #1
The teacher intern understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful to students.
NCTE Standard 2.4
This lesson focuses on the media and how advertisements influence us on a daily basis. Students read a list of brands and judged them, writing down associations they made with them. They also looked critically at what the ads' purposes were.
NCTE Standard3.6
Students are exposed to many marketing messages a day, and today they will examine how much the media influences their lives and what brands they buy.
INTASC Standard #7
The teacher intern plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, state and national standards, students, and the community.
NCTE Standard 2.2
This lesson has students examine their own culture and how the media is a bigger part of it than we think. When they make their own advertisement, it is unique. They can target this culture or target another culture.
Class:10th grade English on-level & advanced
SOL:10.4c- Compare and contrast product information contained in advertisements
10.7f- prepare final product for intended audience and purpose
Daily Objectives: Students will invent a product and/or brand and create an original advertisement.
Students will deconstruct different brands and what their values seem to be in a discussion.
Students will illustrate or list anything they associate with a name brand on paper.
Rationale: Today you will be discussing advertisements and the power they have
over people. We will also (since it's diversity week) talk about how they have
a way of discouraging diversity and conforming people to one perspective. You will create your own brand and/or advertisement so you can be on the other side of the marketing you’re usually subject to.
Procedures:
Intro: Tell students (and allow them to elaborate with their own ideas by calling out loud): a 2006 study revealed people are exposed to close to 3,000 marketing messages a day- so whether you realize it or not, it’s a big part of your life. Think about it:
-you drive to school...
-you see billboards on the roadside advertising things..
-you see bumper stickers on people’s cars- those are a great way to promote an idea or social message. My favorite one is this “coexist” bumper sticker (show them sticker).
-radio you’re listening to has commercials
-at school there's the coke machine, the vending machine offering their products
- later after school you watch a movie maybe which has product placement (which is in movies they’ll have certain items placed in scenes like the Coke company will pay the producer to have the actor drink a Coke in that scene instead of a Pepsi can)...
-then say you check your email and you get a popup advertisement
-any magazine has ads
Middle: (List ten brands or products on the board) and tell them to write down what they associate with the brand: the colors, words, slogans, symbols, etc…
1. Nike 2. MTV 3. Coca Cola 4. Cover Girl 5. Skittles 6. Target 7. Walmart 8. Dolce & Gabbana 9. Disney 10. Starbucks
Go through each one after about five minutes and see what they come up with.
Discuss: *so most of the time these ads have a way of discouraging diversity. They have a way of targeting people to make them conform to wear one certain brand of clothing or think a certain way. So they're trying to sell a product for money, they don’t really care about the stereotypes they’re creating; they just want everyone to wear their brand. *You’re all aware of stereotypes in schools: the jocks, the cheerleaders, the gothic kids, the preppy kids..... Do you buy your clothes based on those? Do you avoid certain brands to avoid being called preppy or avoid wearing eyeliner because someone will call you gothic? (Have them answer) *a lot of times the ads for these brands have seemingly nothing to do with the product, like Abercrombie & Fitch- they don’t always have ads that say "our clothes fit the best and feel the best".. Instead in the store they offer this pre-packaged lifestyle.. Their pictures are of people just in a field or on a beach just carefree and having fun; and they’re with a lot of people so it gives the idea of "you'll be popular if you wear this". Or perfume ads! They don’t say "this smells really good" instead it’s a page with a popular celebrity all dolled up or of a man and a woman about to kiss, as if to say "if you wear this you will be attractive"
*so what are some ways ads attract your attention? (Color, simplicity) what values and lifestyle is promoted in different ads? (Adidas ad would promote an active lifestyle; a makeup ad would value beauty as a quality)
*so what we're going to do is UNBRAND ourselves... create your own individual brand... come up with some kind of design and advertisement that reflects your personality- it can’t use any existing designs, it has to be your own... so use markers/color pencils and design your own brand- like instead of wonderful world of Disney, this is "Lindsey brand" or whatever. So make an advertisement like you’d see in a magazine... with your signature logo, and whatever else on it. So you need to think of your brand, what it’s promoting, and how you will market it. Think how you will persuade people to like your brand.
Conclusion: Allow students time in class to work on their advertisement
but tell them it is homework if they don't finish.
Evaluation: List of ten brands & comments will be collected for participation
points. Ad will be a small grade.
Materials: white paper, markers, colored pencils
Required Prior Knowledge: just being aware of previous exposure to ads
Technology: Used computer to print off bumper sticker. If we had computer lab
time, students would have used the computer to create an ad; but we are just
going to use paper since many students aren't familiar with Photoshop or
drawing software.
Evaluation of Differentiation: Since students are creating their own brand/product, this is something everyone can do.