Tonight’s question

1. Tonight’s question • Of the six “question” words (who, what, where, when, why and how), the one that tends to draw the most thoughtful responses is ________. (One word answer) • Place your answer and your name at www.cmat131.wordpress.com

2. Advertise this! CMAT 102 Prof. Jeremy Cox

3. Commercials • Commercials: Try to tell you a product for profit. • Examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVc_YAJCemw&feature=related

4. Announcements • Announcements: Usually run when stations haven’t sold enough paid spots. They’re free but don’t try to sell a product. Two categories: • Promos: upcoming events and shows • PSAs: advances plea on behalf of nonprofit or activity • Examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTYXZ0qZZEA • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsSIpDK16c4 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OHG7tHrNM • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8g1AJ98Zw

5. Ethics • Don’t “oversell” or deceive your audience • It will backfire. People know when they’re being talked down to. • Also, avoid cliched and misogynistic portrayals of men and women. • And generally avoid anything too controversial. We’re trying to sell something here.

6. How long • 10 seconds = 25 words • 20 seconds = 45 words • 30 seconds = 65 words • 60 seconds = 125 words

7. What Hilliard says • “On the whole, vocabulary should be dignified, but not colorless; attention-getting, but not trite; simple and direct, but not inane or illiterate.” • Read out loud to a friend. • Ask: “What do you say?” “How do you say it?” Don’t try to put every feature in the commercial. Commercials have a “law of diminishing returns” when it comes to words.

8. Some more pointers • If you fall in love with the brilliance of your ad, try taking the product out of it, Hilliard paraphrases a creative director. If you still love it, toss the ad. • The ad is about the product, not the commercial. • You’ve probably seen this happen before when you see what you think is a great commercial and you tell a friend about it later but can’t remember what the commercial was for.

9. 3 types of “appeals” • Ethical appeal: When someone seen as a “good person” tells us to buy something, transferring their goodness onto the product. Also, whenever an ad relates to one’s values. • Logical appeal: Persuasion via facts. • Emotional appeal: Appeals to non-logical, non-intellectual aspects and goes straight to your needs and wants. They get beyond reason to our desire for power, prestige and to be seen as having good taste.

10. Examples • Ethical appeal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc6W0fSlVCM • Logical appeal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApIKJNuHMUM • Emotional appeal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eMmcMK_3Ao

11. Ad organization • 1) Get the audience’s attention. Ways to do that: • Humor • Startling statement or visual • Rhetorical question • Vivid description • Novel situation • Suspenseful conflict

12. Ad organization • 2) Hold its interest. Ways to do that: • Construct a mini-drama (a conflict that keeps us watching until the resolution) • Anecdotes • Statistics • Examples • Exciting visuals and sounds

13. Ad organization • 3) Create the sense that a problem exists related to the function of your product • 4) Give the idea that the product can solve the problem • 5) Finish strong by telling them what to do next. “Mail in a donation; here’s the address.” “Run right out and buy it.” “Call now. Operators are standing by.”

14. Ad critique • A standard, 500-word essay in form of a personal reflection • Include your initial perceptions of the advertisement • Your understanding of the social context of the ad • The similarities and differences in your perceptions of the product before and after viewing the ad • What factors kept your perceptions the same or changed them • Place the commercial in its cultural context (today, if contemporary)