COMMENT
Here's an exercise for Unit II and had a great response from my students. I have a few chronic homework skippers, so I made a "special" role for them to make sure they participated in class.
HOMEWORK
For homework, I asked the students to do the below assignment in a Spark discussion, and I brought their responses to class.Watch one of the free TV ads at http://www.usatvads.com/html/body_services.html. Describe the ad. Then, thinking as Mark Crispin Miller might think, provide a brief analysis of the ad. Do you find any similarities or differences to the ads described in "Deride and Conquer"? *If you are unable to view any of the ads, you may describe an ad you have seen on TV or in print.
CLASS EXERCISE
What Were They Thinking?
In the last class, we discussed what Mark Crispin Miller thinks about what companies think about what consumers think. In other words, Miller believes that companies create ads with this message to customers: "You're too hip and smart for advertising but buy our product anyway." You have tried to get inside Miller's head and look at American media and culture the way he sees it. Being TV watchers, you are also inside the heads (your own) of consumers. Now, you are going behind enemy lines. You are going get inside the head of the ad executive.
Most of you watched a TV commercial for homework. I am going to put you into groups(ad agencies), and you are going to present the ad to your group as though you created it. *It doesn't matter who has or has not seen the ad. You are going to pretend that you wrote the ad and want to "sell" the idea to your co-workers.
- Describe the ad to your group, and then answer these questions: What is the age, sex, and class of your audience. What message do you want to send to consumers? How would the consumers react? 1. After each presenter, discuss as a group whether or not you think the ad will work. Why or why not. Is it worth the money to make this ad? 1. After every group member has presented, the group will choose one ad to present to the entire class. The students in each group who did not do the homework will be the presenters.
RATIONALE
Why are we doing this? Usually, when you read or watch an ad or TV show(or read an essay), you are reacting. You think it is funny, boring, informative…but on the other side is a creator who wants to elicit a response from you. This exercise will help you get into the mind of the creator (even when you don't know who it is) and think about what he or she wants the audience to think. Warning: this exercise may also make you a more skeptical consumer and viewer.
