STEP 1: Choose your Advertisements
• You can use commercials, print, internet, magazine ads or billboards.

STEP 2: Plan Your Presentation
• Walk us through your advertisements by answering and explaining the below questions. Refer to the deconstructing advertisements handout for further guidance and support in your analysis.

Describe the commercial:

1. What product or service is the commercial trying to sell?
2. What type of advertisement is it: brand, generic, or advocacy?
3. Where was the commercial set? Describe the setting(s).
4. Who was in the commercial? Describe the people in the commercial.
5. What objects were in the commercial? Describe the objects.
6. What happened in the commercial? Provide as much detail as you can.
7. What facts are presented?
8. What creative strategies are used to entice the audience?

Analyze the purpose of the commercial:

1. Who is the target audience of the commercial? Explain how you know.
2. What is the message of the TV commercial? In other words, what do the commercial’s creators want the target audience to believe about the product?

Analyze the techniques the commercial’s creators used:

1. What techniques do the commercial creators’ use to convince us of their message. Explain how they help support the message.
2. Logos, pathos, or ethos: select and explain why.
3. How do the languages and images used in the selected advertisements create this emotional response and persuade viewers to buy or do something?
4. Who/what is the competition and how do they differ? Compare and contrast.

Other:

1. Why did you select each advertisement?
2. As a teenager, how does this advertisement appeal to you in comparison to how an adult may react to it?

Sample Solution