Apparently the 7th graders want me to come back and see the ads they've done because they think I'll be impressed.
Oh, and the Starburst "berries & cream" is a bigger hit than any of us ever imagined.
So I met with my friend Thursday night to go over what I should do. Advertising and persuasion is part of the Virginia SOLs and I didn't want to mess them up on their tests.
Luckily, I was just sort of "introducing" them to the concept of critically looking at ads and how advertisers persuade them to buy things.
Earlier I'd gone through my old college design textbooks and pulled their "persuasive" techniques. You know, nice things like visual metaphors or comparisons or puns, blah, blah, blah. The persuasive techniques named by her handouts weren't as glossed over - things like "glittering generalities," "card stacking," and "name calling." Not that those aren't true of course.
So since they've been bogged down with preparing for the SOLs, she told me to make it fun. I showed her some of the commercials I'd gotten to show them and she goes... "oh they can sing that Snickers song for you." Awesome.
So I picked some print ads and some commercials and made a PowerPoint presentation. I'm still learning PowerPoint, but I think it was pretty good if I do say so myself. Oh, and I redid that "Guess the Logo" online game and they played it for candy.
I stopped by the store on the way there to pick up the candy - and yes, I did get Starburst Berries & Cream... I needed something without any trace of peanuts. So it was those and Smarties®.
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I got there early and did Hall Duty with my friend, this includes telling the kids not to run and taking their hats. Then homeroom (where we stood and said the Pledge of Allegiance) and then first period.
We had the first class (the AP kids) twice. Once for first period and then for third (2nd period is a planning period for her). It took us a while to settle them down. I told them if they didn't quiet down they'd have to give me their lunch money. They said that was mean. I said they were wasting my time. They said, "oh, good point." No lie.
So I showed them print ads and some commericals - Snickers, Jeep, Cingular, T-Mobile, Burger King, Skittles and Starburst, Viva... oh and the Dairy Queen Flamethrower one.
They sang McDonalds "I'm Lovin' It" for me and they sang the Snickers jingle.
So we talked about those and if they thought the ads made sense and if they worked and who they thought the commercials were marketed to.
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This scenario also went for 5th and 7th periods (both the same class like 1st and 3rd was). However,
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*Click images for bigger views. And yes the kids that did Skipping Elephant put copyright and trademark symbols all over their ad*
In all the classes, most thought it would be awesome to have ads on school buses when I first asked them. But then I pushed them a little. I asked them about what they thought if ads were on the sides of space shuttles, all three times I got the answer - if they are on the side of the space shuttle it must be a good company or an important product they should know about. So I asked what if it was a candy bar and the company just paid the large amount of money to have it there. They sat there thinking for a while and then decided it wouldn't be that cool.
Part of the school bus thing was my fault, I absent-mindedly used bananas as an example and they couldn't get passed that. Besides they have the Got Milk? ads in the cafeteria they told me.
Perfect timing for this too as we are now getting electronic billboards that will rotate about 6 different ads. And one is on their way to school. I got the "it's awesome" response and then somebody raised their hand to say that he thinks it could cause a lot of wrecks because people would pay too much attention to the billboard.
So first answer was more than likely - "that's cool," "that's awesome," but if you pushed even a little they started thinking beyond the fact that it was flashy or funny.
By the way - the candy really is good. And it smells even better.
But I do have a picture. *lol*
This was a quick shot of one of the ads we had them do. 2 classes came twice (normally one period for writing and one for reading). So the first time I gave them my little presentation and we talked about ads I brought. The second time we had them do an ad.
They had to pick a verb and an animal and create an energy drink. That little copy up top reads, "more vitamins to keep you going."
Yeah, they see a lot of commercials.
On the down-side the majority of them thought it would be really cool to have ads on their buses.
Oh, and the Starburst guy was a real hit, I'm sure their other teachers LOVED me after that.
(Click for larger picture.)
Quick observations before my butt takes a nap.
- Teachers are way underpaid for what they have to deal with. My feet, knees and hips HURT.
- I'm exhausted. And apparently the kids were ANGELS today.
- They are very smart... smarter than they think they are. The kids came up with some pretty awesome slogans/tag lines. (I have pictures of some of the ads they did to come.)
- They know the Snickers jingle by heart. Every class could sing it. Which they did, I have audio.
- The class that was supposed to be "remedial," or at least the worst class were some of the smartest... they definitely saw through some of the ads.
- They plagiarize a little too much. One of the teacher's assistants was going through recent papers highlighting all the stuff they copy/pasted from the internet. All I can say is DAMN.
That's it for now. I ate school lunch - not bad. They have "Got Milk" ads in the cafeteria, but I'm hungry so I'm off to eat and probably take a nap. I had to borrow lunch money.
Oh, and my friend is my new hero.
Or is it 2 days?
Anyways. Friday I will be talking to 7th graders about advertising. Wish me luck or give me suggestions.
