The Federal Trade Commission site explains that:

Advertising is a multi-million dollar business. Truthful advertising provides benefits to consumers and competition. It gives consumers the information they need to make better-informed purchasing and product use decisions. It also gives companies an incentive to modify their products to provide features that customers want. By contrast, false advertising interferes with decision-making and hinders competition.

Tweens have their own money to spend, and parents report that children play an important role in family buying decisions. Because kids are an important part of the marketplace, they often are the targets of advertising and marketing programs. The result is that American kids see ads wherever they go.

Got Ads?

Fifth graders are studying creative expression and psychology in order to understand advertising. We live in a sea of advertising. It is everywhere we look. It dominates television, radio, and the Internet. It’s hard to escape the all-pervasive influence of advertising. Students will become more discriminating consumers if they are aware of the techniques advertisers use to get them to buy their products and services.

Those Shoes
By: Maribeth Boelts

More than anything else, Jeremy wants “those shoes,” those cool black ones with the two white stripes. They’re in every ad, and everyone has them! Everyone, it seems, but Jeremy. His grandmother tells him that “There’s no room for ‘want’ around here – just ‘need.’ And what you need are new boots for winter.” Through a series of events, Jeremy discovers that Grandma is right: a new best friend, a loving family, and a pair of warm boots are all that he needs, and all that he wants.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

COMMERCIALS

Task 1: Where? List all the different places you see ads. If you can list over 15 different locations you are one observant consumer. Practice being an Ad Detective.

Task 2: What? Advertising messages ask people to buy a product, use a service, or believe an idea. Review over 500 businesses found in Blauvelt, New York. Write down ten companies that provide a service. List ten companies that provide a product.

Task 3: Why? Advertisers motivate people to buy products because of human needs. (Examples: food, shelter, self-preservation, health, security, prosperity, approval, self-fulfillment, attraction, comfort, pleasure, etc.) View these Sample Ads and complete the Ad Worksheet./Attention Grabbers

Task 4: How? Advertisers use special techniques to persuade you to buy their products. (Examples: Bandwagon, Testimonial, Plain Folks, Name Calling, Image Advertising, Weasel) Watch three commercials, Pepsi, Levis, Philip Morris, and identify the technique each one uses to persuade its viewers. Explore the other advertising tricks companies use to sell their products – Advertising Tricks Identify techniques used in Superbowl Commercials or every day commercials.

Task 5: Who? Mass media is used to target specific audiences. Test yourself to see if you are smart enough to see through the sales pitch: Buying Smart!

WAYS TO SELL

Unlike print advertisements, TV commercials have the benefit of sound. The use of music in television advertisements may include pop songs meant to elicit specific emotions or brand-specific jingles. A jingle is music written specifically for a commercial and makes the viewer retain information about the product — or even simple awareness of the product — in his subconscious.

TIME Magazine Article: Circles and Swooshes The Evolution of Corporate Logos
Logo Worksheet – Logo Quiz.net – Get the APP

Across all media formats, beauty product advertising bombards consumers on a daily basis. Each ad seeks to persuade potential buyers of the product’s value, or even its necessity for the buyer’s well-being and self image. These techniques, sometimes manipulative in nature, affect more than the consumer’s wallet; they affect her self-concepts. Play Cover Model Revealed

Other Examples: Pepsi Challenge or Bounty Paper Towels
Let’s try our own experiment – A consumer Report: Paper Towels Quality testing is often shown in commercials to convince us of the superiority of a particular product. This experiment compares the quality of different paper towels by testing strength, durability, and absorbency. Follow the directions at each station and record your results carefully.

Super Bowl Ads: