Advertising is everywhere — on TV and billboards, on our clothes, our food, in the movies we watch, even in bathroom stalls. Kids are among the most sophisticated observers of ads. They can sing the jingles and identify the logos, and they often have strong feelings about products. What they generally don't understand, however, are the issues that underlie how advertising works. Mass media are used not only to sell goods but also ideas: how we should behave, what rules are important, who we should respect and what we should value. Examining advertisements can be an engaging way of helping students understand and question commercialism, persuasion and the issues of privacy raised by ever more sophisticated and ubiquitous marketing techniques.
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Consuming Kids: A MediaChannel Special Report
In America, more than $2 billion a year is spent targeting the lucrative market of juvenile consumers. Now, as globalization opens new markets, the animated princesses and junk food of U.S. kids' culture are being exported around the world. A report on the dangers of kid marketing and strategies for fighting back. From The Media Channel
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Propaganda Techniques
Designed for K-12 teachers and students, this unit explores propaganda in advertising, media, politics and war with historical examples, quizzes and lesson plans.
From AOL Hometown.
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Commercialism Watchdog
This advocacy group is concerned with the encroachment of commercialism into schools and other public space and the public health issues of junk food, tobacco and alcohol marketing. From Commercial Alert
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AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE
MEDIA.
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Teachers' Toolkit