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ENGLISH 10
Media Assignments
Submit your work ON TIME!
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Advertising and Media Assignment 10
(from The AD and the Ego study guide, and media workshops from Pacific Cinematheque)
Fish in the Sea
Consider the following quotes and ideas. Respond to the questions in paragraph form. 15 marks
total
1.
Jean Kilbourne, author of Killing Us Softly, says that advertising sells more than products, it sells
values, images, concepts, and above all, normalcy…it tells us who we are and who we should
be…Advertising teaches us above all to be consumers. It teaches us that happiness can be bought, that
there are instant solutions to life’s complex problems, and that products can fulfill us and meet our deepest
human needs.
What does Kilbourne mean? Can you paraphrase this? How do you know what is normal? How does
the message from advertisers about what we should be contrast with the kind of people Jesus calls us to
be? Can you think of examples?
2.
Stuart Ewen says that it’s not one ad that is really important, it’s living in an environment which
repeats the same messages over and over. He says we don’t really notice it, that it’s like wallpaper, and
that we are surrounded by it all the time. The average viewer sees over 1500 ads a day and their effects
are cumulative and mostly unconscious.
Do these “wallpaper” ads really affect us? If we don’t notice them, should we care about them?
3.
Richard Pollay states that just as a fish doesn’t think about the sea, we don’t think much about ads
because we are surrounded by an ad environment throughout life. Sut Jhally says that a goal of education
should be “to get the fish to think about the water.” Agree or disagree, and state why.
3/3/2016
Page 1 of 4
Read the article “Virtual Ads…” and then look at the assignments below
Composition:
Prepare ONE of the following responses in a multi-paragraph composition that you will submit as an
attachment to an email that you send to rmcguire@mcsed.ca
a.
Consider the statement made by Jean Kilbourne that “advertising is a system of education that is
powerful precisely because it is not considered education.” How personally affected are you by
advertising? If you are not influenced by ads, then who is? Why do companies pay millions of dollars to
advertise? Proofread and edit please, before submitting. 
b.
Choose one of the people quoted in this exercise and investigate his/her career. What has been
the main focus of this person’s research? Choose two other quotes from this person, and explain them.
Proofread and edit please! 
c.
Consider the article on virtual ads (attached below), and see where you find advertising that you
think MAY be virtual. If you watched the World Cup Soccer Tournament, then you would definitely
have seen virtual ads – many of the ads along the sidelines were actually blank, but were “filled in”
according to which country was broadcasting the game. Have a look at clothing, at cars, at other areas
where advertisers are using the consumer to provide the distribution end of the advertising. Write a
composition that discusses the question of where we can still go where there’s no advertising? Identify
areas of your life where advertising could take place that you think would be okay, and areas that you
think should be AD – FREE. Give reasons and examples for your thoughts. You will need to
proofread and edit your work before submitting. 
Virtual Ads Have TV Viewers Seeing Things
Newspaper article by John Heinzl
Something sneaky happened on the television show Traders, but it had nothing to do with the
machinations at the brokerage firm Gardner/Ross/Cunningham.
The perpetrator of this little deception was the advertising industry, and it was done so subtly that
most viewers probably didn’t notice.
As the character Sally Ross chatted on a downtown street, the camera lingered over a poster for
the movie Girl, Interrupted. That may not seem sneaky. But consider this: The episode was filmed
months before posters were even printed for the movie.
How did the poster get there? It was inserted electronically into the show using some digital
sleight of hand. The reality-twisting technique called virtual advertising, allows marketers to place signs,
logos and products into a wide variety of programs, both live and taped.
The technology has already swept the sports industry, where virtual ads are common in end
zones and on outfield fences. Now, it is spreading to other types of programs, from talk shows to dramas
such as Traders, opening a new frontier for marketers who want to reach a broader range of viewers.
The images are so convincing, most people can’t even distinguish a virtual sign or product from a
real one.
“The whole idea of these things is they’re subtle and they fit right in with the program,” says Ken
Johnson, a vice-president of sales and marketing at the Global Television Network. Mr. Johnson admits
that Traders, a Global program, contained a virtual ad, but he would not confirm it was the movie poster,
citing the advertiser’s request for anonymity.
Global plans to use virtual ads in other shows such as PSI Factor and possibly, the adult cartoon
Bob and Margaret. Other networks are hopping on the bandwagon as a way to win new ad dollars or to
promote their own brands.
The CBS breakfast program, The Early Show, for instance, slaps its logo onto skyscrapers,
streets and horse-drawn carriages in Central Park, turning Manhattan into a giant billboard. Nobody
walking around New York can see the signs, of course, but to viewers at home they look real.
U.S. network UPN inserted images, such as a Blockbuster video case, a bottle of Evian Water
and a Kenneth Cole bag into an episode of the drama Seven Days. And in Mexico, soap operas have
virtual items such as Colgate toothpaste and a beach ball covered with Palmolive logos.
One company, Orad Hi-Tec Systems of Israel, is even developing technology that will allow
broadcasters to dust off shows that are decades old and update them with current products. So, for
instance, reruns of The Brady Bunch might feature Alice using a contemporary box of Tide detergent.
Advertisers “can’t wait to get their hands on it. They can put stuff in places that normally they
wouldn’t be able to,” says Matthew Straeb, president of Orad’s North American subsidiary.
Advertisers are often accused of bending the truth, but virtual ads go too far, critics say. “It’s a
distortion of reality. It’s a deliberate falsification of images. And that is worrisome because I think people
trust pictures to tell the truth,” says Gary Ruskin, director of Commercial Alert, a non-profit group in
Washington, founded by consumer advocate Ralph Nader.
“Where is this virtual product placement going to end, when advertisers tattoo logos on the inside
of our eyelids?” he asks.
Barrie Zwicker, media critic for Vision TV in Toronto, first became aware of virtual ads while
watching a Molson Indy car race. The TV broadcast featured a computer-generated bridge with ads for a
tobacco company.
He warns that the proliferation of virtual ads may spark a consumer backlash. “I enjoy a lot of
advertising,” he says. “At the same time, I don’t want it shoved down my throat and I don’t want it pulled
over my eyes.”
Supporters of virtual ads say the technology is bound to win more converts because it has so
many benefits. For one thing, because the images are part of the program itself, the messages are an
effective way to reach channel surfers who flip during commercial breaks. The ads are also attractive
because they can be easily customized for different markets. A Friends episode shown in the United
States might include Budweiser beer, for instance, while a version broadcast in Mexico might show a
bottle of Corona.
Advances in viewing technology highlight another benefit of virtual ads. With digital Personal
Video Recorders, Viewers will be able to record programs and watch them without commercial breaks,
creating a need for advertising messages to be imbedded in the programs themselves.
“Once that happens, the only way you can guarantee impact is by advertising in the game, in the
event or in the show,” says Dennis Wilkinson, president and chief executive officer of Princeton Video
Image Inc. of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, which provides virtual ad services to Global, CBS and others.
As technologies improve, advertisers may be able to tailor virtual messages to individual, he
adds. A young person watching a football game, for instance, might see a sign in the stands for an entrylevel car such as a Toyota Echo, while an older viewer would get a pitch for a Cadillac.
“It’s coming sooner than you would think,” he says.