1. Examining Ads & Reviewing Appeals
ELA
Grade 7
Springboard Activity 2.4

2. Pre-Discussion Get your SpringBoard book!
Think of your favorite advertisement. It could be a TV commercial, film trailer, print ad, or billboard.
What is it about the ad that appeals to you? Is it funny? Touching? Do you like the music or jingle?
What is being advertised? Is it a product that you use?
Watch this Commercial!

3. Advertising Techniques Pg. 71
Highlight the important parts of the definitions & make note of an ad you know of that uses the technique:
Bandwagon  Advertisers make it seem as if everyone is buying this product, so you better buy it, too!: “The best car of the year is here…All of your friends and neighbors are driving one…” This technique makes you feel left out if you are not buying the product.
Avant-garde  This technique is almost the reverse of bandwagon: It makes the product seem so new and so cool that you want to be the first on the block to have it. Only super-cool people like you will even know about this product!

4. EXAMPLES
BANDWAGON
AVANT-GARDE

5. Advertising Techniques Pg. 71
Testimonials  Advertisers use celebrities or just regular people to endorse the product. Pay close attention; sometimes the celebrity doesn’t even actually say that he or she uses the product.
Facts and Figures  Statistics, percentages, and numbers are used to convince you that this product is better or more effective than another product. Be aware of what the numbers are actually saying. What does “30 percent more effective than the leading brand” really mean?

6. EXAMPLES
TESTIMONIALS
FACTS & FIGURES

7. Advertising Techniques Pg. 71
Transfer  This is a rather complicated technique for persuasion. To recognize it, you really need to pay attention to the background of the ad or to the story of the commercial. This technique gets you to associate good feelings shown in the ad with the product itself. Then, the good feelings transfer to you when you buy the product. A commercial that shows a group of people having a lot of fun while drinking a certain brand of soft drink wants you to believe that you will be a part of fun groups if you buy the brand of soft drink, too.

8. EXAMPLE
TRANSFER

9. You Decide!
In your opinion, what type of propaganda technique is being used in the following advertisements? Be sure to support your opinion with evidence or inference found in the advertisement.