COMM 100 Introduction to Media Literacy Advertising: Understanding & Identifying “The Tools of Persuasion” Jayne Cubbage, Ph.D. Bowie State University MDLAB 2017 Final Presentation August 19, 2017

Course: COMM 100 “Introduction to Media Literacy” This course (new) would be first REQUIRED course in sequence in Department of Communications Fulfills program description Goal #2: “To produce well-informed individuals who are able to cope with rapid social and technological changes within our society and to access information, evaluate it critically, and codify it into effective messages for various audiences”. (Bowie State University, 2016) Seeks to serve as an entrée to the concepts of media literacy Gateway to identification, production, analysis and synthesis of media skills, concepts and application

Assignment Introduction This assignment is designed to highlight concepts from Dr. Sut Jhally’s presentation (mdlab17.org) which discussed the UBIQUITOUS nature of advertising in the world today and its alarming impact on society: Ads are COLONIZING society Ads are DISPLACING other societal narratives Ads REFLECT VALUES Ads celebrate CONSUMERISM Media system delivers AUDIENCES to ADVERTISERS

Assignment Purpose/Learning Outcomes After successful completion of this assignment student’s will be able to do/perform the following: Identify three levels of ad techniques Define elements in each level of ad techniques Analyze how techniques are used to persuade Evaluate ads and their messages Future assignments Own media usage

Module Introduce topic of advertising and its PERVASIVENESS in our lives today Infuse concepts from Dr. Jut’s presentation Distribute Handout “Introduction to Media Literacy” (Media Literacy Project, 2012) Discuss “Tools of Persuasion” and individual terms for each level… Show Sample Ad from GEICO (GEICO Insurance, 2016)

Ad Sample/Ad Techniques GEICO “Spy: It’s What You Do” Spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNggrti5SQ8 Beginning: Beautiful People, Humor; Association, Plain Folks Intermediate: Glittering Generalities; Simple Solution; Symbols; Nostalgia Advanced: Analogy; Cause vs. Correlation; Diversion

Interactive Feature After watching ad: Students will be asked to identify techniques from each level Beginning Intermediate Advanced Discuss as a class Comprehension Assignment Value Student Questions, Comments, Concerns

Assignment Students will be asked to select an ad of their own found on YouTube or other online search engine: DuckDuckGo Asked to identify tools of persuasion for each level for selected ad Write a list of techniques identified in ad Post a video link of selected ad, list of techniques and analysis to WordPress blog

Evaluation/Assessment Upon completion of this assignment students will be evaluated on the following criteria: Ad analysis: Identifies Terms Clearly Written Blog Post (WordPress): Aesthetic Value/Neatness Accessibility of Post Quality of Presentation: Active Learning Student/Audience Engagement Q&A (Audience Feedback & Questions)

Summary/Future Assignments Once this assignment is completed the course will move on to the next modules on advertising Module 2: “Advertising Deconstruction” Module 3: “Advertising Creation”

Thank You!