In your group... How influenced are you by advertising? Do you watch the commercials or do you switch channels? Why do you do it?

Which features do you think make a commercial effective? Beautiful people  Music  Humour  Real comments made by consumers  Slogans  Famous people  Scientific facts about the product  Animals  Sad stories  Happy families  Ugly people 

Clip & Discussion

Media Fun Facts - The number of fake Facebook accounts is roughly equivalent to the population of Egypt. - Google rents a flock of goats at its headquarters to cut down on weeds and brush. - "Wiki" is the Hawaiian word for "quick." - The first use of SMS (short message service) was allegedly in December 1992 by a 22 year-old engineer who used a computer to send the text message “Merry Christmas.” - At over 5,000 words, Facebook’s privacy policy is longer than the U.S. Constitution.

The ABC’s of Brands We’re going to start today with a warm-up activity that will illustrate the powerful influence media images have on us. This alphabet has been created from parts of well-known brand logos. See how many of the brands you recognize. Corporate branding is just one aspect of media to which we are exposed. However, we are familiar with branding from an early age. Babies as young as six months can form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. Brand loyalties can be established as early as age two, and by the time children head off to school most can recognize hundreds of brand logos.  (Next Slide)

What is media? Let's brainstorm!

Why does the media exist? Express an opinion or point of view Educate through factual content and information Entertain an audience, as in video games or movies Persuade viewers and listeners to buy a product or think a certain way

Why are we studying media in English class? Media literate - able to critically understand the nature, techniques and impacts of media messages and productions. It isn't about having the right answers: rather, it's about asking the right questions. Media literacy encourages people to question, evaluate, understand and appreciate their multimedia culture. It teaches them to become active, engaged media consumers and users. The media – music, comics, television, video games, the Internet and even ads – are a part of life that people enjoy.

5. Media literacy helps people's personal growth and social development by exploring the connections between popular culture – music, fashion, television programming, movies and advertising – and their attitudes, lifestyle choices and self- image. 6. Media literacy helps people to distinguish between reality and fantasy as they compare media violence and real-life violence, media heroes and real-life heroes, and media role models and real-life roles and expectations. 7. With most people turning first to the Internet for research, media education assists in evaluating and authenticating information and examining issues of plagiarism and copyright.

Media literacy is: the ability to access, analyze, and evaluate media the process of becoming active, rather than passive, consumers of media Media literacy is commonly defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and produce media. It’s the process of becoming active, rather than passive, consumers of media.  (Next Slide)

Key Concepts of Media: 1. Media are constructions! Media are made by people who choose what to show/not to show! 2. You negotiate the meaning. Everyone interprets media differently depending on experiences, culture, gender, race, religion, etc 3. Media are a business! #1 is to make $! 4. Forms of media have a lot of power – think about who/what it affects, what is the purpose, etc 5. Each medium (tv, film, newspaper, video game) has different techniques and abilities available to them

Buzzfeed Clip