Discuss with students the various forms of media where they see advertising such as TV, radio, Internet, magazines, newspapers or billboards. Have each student create a week-long calendar. Each day, the student marks on the calendar where he sees an advertisement. At the end of the week, tally the number of places and have students compare what they saw. Ask students to discuss if they realize how many advertisements they witness on a daily basis.
With so many advertisements reaching us on a daily basis, we disregard many while others manage to catch our attention. Ask students to collect four different ads, two that they view as effective and two that they consider ineffective. Effective advertisements mean that the student would be willing to buy that product based on the image or copy. Collect the ads and ask the class to rate them based on a scale of one to five, one being the most effective and five being the least effective. Discuss with the students why some ads are more effective than others are and how companies use different tactics to target different demographics.
Companies pay a lot of money to advertising agencies and consultants to find out what their customers want and the best way to reach them. Ask students to pick a product aimed at their age group, such as a snack food, toy or video game. Have each student create an ad for that product using any media format she chooses, such as a billboard, magazine ad or TV commercial. Have students present their ads to the class and have a class discussion on what approaches were effective and what products they would consider buying.
Advertisements are sometimes deceptive, especially when it comes to food. Ask students to collect various ads for food. Over the course of a month, have students take pictures of what the food in the advertisements looks like in real life, whether at a restaurant, fast food chain or something bought in the grocery store. Post the pictures next to each other and compare the results. Have students discuss which advertisement are the most true to the real thing and which ones are deceptive.