Propaganda/Advertising Assignment Propaganda is "the spread of ideas, often in a biased or one-sided form, to win support for a particular cause." "the selective use of information to influence public opinion." Propaganda is when you only tell one side of the story because you are trying to persuade someone to think something, do something, or buy something. THE BASIC IDEA: YOU are going to create a piece of PROPAGANDA! 1. Choose or create a topic or product. 2. Create an advertisement that convinces people to buy your product. 3. Use at least four different ad techniques (discussed in class) in your advertisement. You can combine them into one ad or make separate ads. 4. On the back of your project, list four things you would never mention if you were trying to persuade someone to do/think/buy this thing. POTENTIAL TOPICS: SUV's Fast Food Pets Soda Skiing Mountain Climbing Leaf Blowers Computers Watching TV Video Games Facebook Energy Drinks Ice Cream Cellular Phones Cosmetics
BRAINSTORMING BOX! Write down good things about your topic. Think of words that would persuade someone to do/think/buy this thing. NEXT: Write a list of at least 4 "bad things I won't mention" about this topic. Please do not be silly or make up outright lies. This is a list of the real, negative things that you would never mention if you were trying to persuade someone to do/think/buy this thing. FINALLY: Use these notes to prepare your propaganda piece. Use construction paper, markers, pictures from magazines, and other supplies to make an advertisement promoting your topic. Write catchy slogans and statements in support of your topic. Make this as neatly as possible. Take the time to do it right. On the back of your advertisement, use the provided sheet to neatly list all the bad things you would never mention in an advertisement. Write your name on the back of your project. Please be neat and spell correctly.
Requirements and Grading Propaganda and Advertising Advertisement correctly demonstrates use of four (4) different advertising techniques.* /20 Statements and claims used are reasonable and persuasive. Entire space of advertisement page is used effectively. All print and/or writing is legible and neat (horizontal, spacing, size, letters formed correctly, etc.). All words are spelled correctly and grammar is used correctly. Ample pictures and other visual elements are included. All pictures and other visual elements are cropped and arranged neatly and artistically. BACK SIDE - Things I d Never Tell You statements are reasonable and thoughtful. BACK SIDE - Advertising techniques correctly identified and explained Project is completed on time. 0 *Advertising techniques discussed in class: Ideal Family Fun Excitement Star Power Bandwagon Nostalgia Scale Put Downs Facts, Figures & Statistics Association Heart Strings Humor Fantasy/Transfer Sounds Good Cartoon Characters Weasel Words Omission Are You Cool Enough? Sense Appeal Testimonial Fear Beautiful People Hype & Hyperbole Special Ingredients Sweepstakes & Prizes
Advertising Techniques Ideal Family Fun - The families always seem perfect. Everyone is good looking. Everyone gets along. The product is shown as something that brings families together, or helps them have fun together. Excitement - Who could ever have imagined that food could be so much fun? One bite of a snack food and you're surfing in California, or soaring on your skateboard! Star Power - Your favorite sports star or celebrity is telling you that their product is the best! People listen, not realizing that the star is being paid to promote the product. Bandwagon - Join the crowd! Don't be left out! Everyone is buying it - why aren't you? Nostalgia Plain folks, back-to nature, just the way grandma used to make it, back in the good old days. Scale - Advertisers make a product look bigger or smaller than it actually is. Put Downs - When you put down your competition's product to make your own product seem better. Facts, Figures & Statistics - When you use facts and statistics to enhance your product's credibility. People tend to be impressed with facts and statistics even if they have little or no meaning. Association Using images (like a firefighter, a hero, or an American flag), in the hope that you ll transfer your good feelings about the image to the product. Heart Strings ( Warm & Fuzzy) - Ads that draw you into a story and make you feel good. This includes themes of love, family, puppies, babies, or anything that makes you go, awww that s so cute!. Humor People may tend to remember an ad if it makes them laugh and purchase the product because of the positive association with it. Sounds Good (Jingles and Popular Songs) - Music and other sound effects add to the excitement of commercials. Those little jingles that you just can't get out of your head are another type of music used to make you think of a product. Cartoon Characters - Tony the Tiger sells cereal and the Nestlé Quick Bunny sells chocolate milk. Cartoons like these make kids identify with products. Weasel Words or Omission - By law, advertisers have to tell the truth, but sometimes, they use words that can mislead viewers. Look for words in commercials like: "The taste of real..." "Natural..." "New, better tasting..." "Because we care..." Nothing works better than These phrases are meaningless. Omission is like weasel words; advertisers don't give you the full story about their product. For example, when something claims to be "part" of a healthy breakfast, it doesn't mention that the breakfast might still be healthy whether this product is there or not. Are You Cool Enough? - This is when advertisers try to convince you that if you don't use their products, you are a nerd. Uncool people try a product and then suddenly become hip looking and do cool things. Sense Appeal Sounds, pictures, or words that appeal to the senses are featured. Testimonial Important or well-known people testify that they use the product and so should you. Fear You should buy this product or something bad could happen to us, our families and friends, or our country. Beautiful People Use good-looking models in ads to suggest we ll look like the models if we buy the product. Hype & Hyperbole Using words like amazing and incredible make products seem really exciting. The words are impressive but are meaningless. Special Ingredients Promoting an ingredient or quality may make people think the product works better than others. Sweepstakes & Prizes offering prizes and money (that you probably will not win) to buy the product. Fantasy/Transfer knights, dragons, space ships, magic, monsters, maidens, adventure, pirates all real if you buy this thing!
W r i t e N e a t l y! Propaganda/Advertising Assignment Attach to back of your advertisement! Name Class: SS3 SS4 SS5 SS6 Describe four Things I d Never Tell You All things have down sides. Describe four things about your product that you would never share if you were advertising the product. Be factual. 1. 2. 3. 4. Describe the Advertising Techniques You Used Describe the four advertising techniques you used in your advertisement. State the technique, your example, and how it represents the technique. I used Sense Appeal when I wrote Smell the Outdoors! and Feel the Breeze. These words appeal to a person s senses. 1. 2. 3. 4. Ideal Family Fun Excitement Star Power Bandwagon Nostalgia Scale Put Downs Facts, Figures & Statistics Association Heart Strings Humor Sounds Good Cartoon Characters Weasel Words Omission Are You Cool Enough? Sense Appeal Testimonial Fear Beautiful People Hype & Hyperbole Special Ingredients Sweepstakes/Prizes Fantasy/Transfer