ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN

Print Ads [part 1]

Learning Objectives: Students will be aware of the 4 types of advertising campaigns:

1. Information about product

2. Emotions and feelings associated with product

3. Lifestyles associated with product

4. Shock value—purpose is to cause buzz and outrage

and can identify them in a compare-and-contrast setting.

 

Resources

Print Ads PowerPoint: a selection of child-safe print ads. Includes a compare and contrast section for activity. *notes on all ads included in the PowerPoint are available on the Sample Ads link below.

*Ads are not offensive but some may not be appropriate or understandable for younger children. Teachers are advised to edit the samples for their particular class.

*note: the provided resources have excluded shock value ads.

 

Discussion

Use the provided Print Ads PowerPoint and Print Ads Teacher Guide to help your students identify the layers of meaning in the ads—which ones sell a feeling; which ones sell a product? What do the words say? What do the images say? Are words or images more powerful? Talk about the use of color—how are colors used in different types of ads? How do these ads make them feel?  Are these ads targeted at them or at their parents? Where would they expect to see these ads?  

 

Activity: Compare and Contrast

 

Show students the pairs of images in the provided Print Ads PowerPoint and have them compare and contrast the types of advertisements, identifying the types. Make sure they explain why they think a certain ad should fall under a certain category.

 

Alternatively, divide students into groups or pairs and hand out printed PowerPoint slides. Ask them to identify which category each ad would fall under and write the reasons why. Then bring the whole class back together and have each group show the corresponding projected slides and explain their reasoning.