Resources: Week 5 readings and videos

Find a commercial, no longer than 2 minutes and no shorter than 1 minute, on YouTube for a product and analyze the advertising techniques as discussed in class and in your readings.

Select a product from one of these catagories.

• Fast food
• Personal care
• Automobile
• Other suitable product — ask me if you’re uncertain if your commercial would be acceptable.

DO NOT use these types of advertisements/commercials:

• Carl’s Jr.
• Political ad
• A fake product (no comedy sketches)
• A PSA (public service announcement), i.e., something that is not actually selling anything: Don’t Drink and Drive, etc.
• An internet-only product.
• A foreign-made commercial (must be a commercial geared toward an American audience)
• Any commercial more than 10 years old.

Download the commercial for insertion into your PowerPoint Presentation, or paste the link so we may view the commercial in class before you analyze it.

Prepare a 5- to 7-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation in which you investigate the advertising techniques used in selling this product and discuss the following

• What is the target group of the commercial?
• What are the key persuasive techniques used in this commercial? Illustrate with specific examples, explaining how each technique works.
• What are the stereotypes in this ad, if any?
• Do you believe this commercial to be effective? Why?
• Are ethical standards met or pushed to their limits?

Be sure to discuss the ADVERTISING techniquest of your video, not the attributes of the product itself. You are analyzing the commercial, not the product.

NOTE: Do not count your commercial or your title slide in your total slide count. For example, your entire presentation might be 8 actual slides: 1 for title, 6 for analysis, 1 for the commercial itself. You do not need a reference slide at the end.