The Importance of
Understanding Ads:
An Introduction to
Advertising
Pham’s RAM
Fall 2013
But Wait…Let’s Review
What are the 6
questions and their
single-word
counterparts?
group tasks

Introduce yourselves.

Create a list of good advertisements verses bad advertisements

Think effective v. ineffective.

Be as specific as possible so I can find them online.

Discuss characteristics of an effective or ineffective ad as a class.

Be prepared to hand me your lists before you leave.
Let’s Examine Some Ads

Divide a piece of paper in half.

Label one half “good ads,” and label the other half
“bad ads.”

As you watch, create a list of qualities that makes
ads good or bad.
The iPad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btfbIVGES1I
Snickers (with Betty White)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ya0-OZ58s
The Guardian (Newspaper)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_e
mbedded&v=vDGrfhJH1P4
Chipotle: Back to the Start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_e
mbedded&v=aMfSGt6rHos
Food for Thought

The typical American teens sees 3,000 ads per day
(Mehta 10).

Tainted Truth tells us that, as a society, we “are
exposed to 12 billion display ads, 2.5 million radio
commercials and more than 300,000 television
commercials” on a daily basis.
Bombarded

With your group, create a mind map of all the
places where you are bombarded with
advertisements.

Try to think beyond the obvious.
Recap…
Effective
Ineffective
Humorous
Low budget
Attractive
Bad quality (camera, editing, etc.)
Emulation (celebrities)
Bad acting
High quality resolution, acting, etc.
Boring/corny/lame
Memorable jingle/song/catch
phrase/slogan
Cheesy catch phrases/rhymes
Music (must have “good” singing or a
turn-off)
Subtle, doesn’t feel like I’m being “sold”
to
Unreliable characters
Bad product
Bad music
Narrow demographic (doesn’t apply to
me)
Too “in your face”, obvious
Advertising Warm-up: Old Spice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
What are the effective and/or ineffective qualities of
Old Spice’s marketing campaign?
Who is the target audience?
Is the information fair, accurate, and complete?
Let’s Chatter

What is the purpose of advertising? What types of companies
advertise most?

What effects, both positive and negative, does advertising have on our
society?

How much control do we have over the number of advertisements we
see or hear?

Have you ever been personally affected by an ad?

Why are more advertisers starting to target children and teens?

Do advertisements lie? How often do you question them?
Things to Think About.

From the mouth of an advertising agent in
James Steyer’s The Other Parent: “If you tell
[kids] to buy something, they are resistant. But
if you tell them that they’ll be a dork if they
don’t, you’ve got their attention. You open up
emotional vulnerability…” (100).

Materialistic individuals suffer more depression,
have poorer relationships, and use more drugs,
alcohol and tobacco (Steyer 100).
Things to Think About.

Today, marketers spend 3 billion dollars per year
targeting children, 20 times as much as was
spent a decade ago (Steyer 103).

Carolle Stroller, a kindergarten teacher, notices
how children used to bring in artifacts from
family trips or pictures from travels for show and
tell. Now they bring in action figures from
movies and toys from fast food restaurants
(Steyer 105).

Paradox of choice
Proctor and Gamble: Best Job

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGJGQQVNqjg
Eagleman (Car Insurance)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4-e4nlfdRI
Doritos: Fashionista

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmhhbJIBoNs
Direct TV: Charlie Sheen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFJAe9snWDg
5 Hour Energy: Doctor Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSHCbizqIo0
Coke: Polar Bears

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V1oNGOVo4&feature=player_embedded
Go Daddy: The Cloud

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FLcKYKdXJw&
feature=player_embedded
Group Task
With your group, come
up with a question or idea
to challenge the claim of
the advertiser.
Looking ahead

WHY is dissecting ads so
important?