Now listen again to each of the commercials in turn as many times as necessary to answer the following questions

Commersial 1

- Which three aspects of the service are emphasized?

- What, according to the ad, will be the effect of the first two of the on the customer?

- Why do you think these three aspects were chosen, and why does the ad use these particular verbs?

- What is the short last sentence of the ad?

- What else does the ad use apart from words?

Commersial 2

- What is the “horror story” here and why?

- Unusually, the listener isn’t expected to understand everything that is said in this ad. Why not?

- The ad mentions “home entertainment systems”. What other terms does it use instead of the more common stereo, radio, television and DVD?

- Do you find this ad amusing?

Commersial 3

- How does the ad give an Italian “flavour”? Can you think of any other way in which this could have been done?

- Which of these three ads do you prefer and why?

Creative Task

In small groups, write a script for a 20-second commercial to be played on a popular radio station, advertising either a well-known product some form of travel to your country. Remember that you have to persuade and inform, and are not supposed to say anything misleading or untruthful. You are free to invent the name of the company, the details of its service etc. You may use music or just indicate what is used besides a voice / voices.

Lesson 5. Analyzing Advertisement

Case Study

Choose any advertisement from a newspaper or a magazine. Prepare a written report on your assigned ad by answering these questions about it.

I. Analyze the advertisement in small groups or as a whole class, using the following questions.

• How does the advertisement attempt to get your attention?

• What is it an advertisement for?

• Who is the target audience for this product?

• List the information the advertisement provides about the product.

• How does the advertisement try to convince you to buy this product?

• How is the name of the product significant?

• What images has the advertiser chosen to use? Why?

• What information do you think has been left out of this advertisement? Why?

• Rate this advertisement on its effectiveness – does it catch and keep your attention? If you were in the market for this type of product, would you purchase a product from this company? Why or why not?

• What would you change about the ad?

II. Define unfamiliar terms or concepts.

III. Role play.

Imagine you are purchasing a similar product and make a list of advantages and disadvantages you see in purchasing the item from this company. Before making a decision, what additional information would you need? Why is that information not included in the advertisement?

IV. Follow-up Activity 1: Working alone or in small groups, did you choose and cut out magazine and phone book ads that you find eye-catching or appealing. What elements of the ad you think are most effective.

V. Follow-up Activity 2: Working alone or in small groups design a full-page advertisement for this product that would incorporate some of the elements the class identified in the previous exercise. You should choose a target audience, name some of the advantages of the product, and specify how it would make life easier or more comfortable for their target audience.