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I'm starting a new thematic unit with my students this week, combining elements of persuasive writing and critical thinking skills – the goal is to get students to not only get comfortable with using persuasive techniques, but to recognize when various persuasive techniques are being used on them.

Where better to look than the world of advertising?

It's been estimated that U.S. Corporations spend approximately $450 billion a year on ads. And that's not just billboards and TV spots, that's market research, focus groups, psychologists, sociologists, and a horde of other assorted ologists. All of this, I explained to my students, was to design ads that make us want to buy, but not necessarily want to think. Today, I told them, they would be thinking instead.

I chose four advertisements – cigarette ads, because I figured that since people already knew that smoking was dangerous, so advertisers would have to go the extra mile to make it glamorous. I wasn't disappointed, but I've noticed something interesting – most cigarette ads show people outdoors, socializing, having fun, generally doing all sorts of things... except actually smoking. I plan to bring that up for an upcoming lesson on subtext – getting a message across without being explicit.

I had the students choose an advertisement and answer five simple questions: First, describe the ad – what do you see; what's going on? How does the ad get your attention? Who is the target audience – the people the ad was designed for? What ideas or values are being presented in the ad? Finally, how is the ad trying to get you to buy the product?

The next step was a short essay about an unintentional message from advertising. A year ago, Dove released a body wash ad which stirred up some controversy. I presented a copy of the ad to the students and asked them to prepare a short essay giving their opinion.

Here's a copy of the ad: http://www.teachablemoment.org/images/dovead.pdf the issue was a subtle message of racism based on the positions of the women – from “before” to “after.” Much ado about nothing, or did Dove drop the ball?

It's a good lesson, one which emphasizes the more hidden messages about advertising – including unintentional ones. My next step is going to be getting my students to design their own ads – I only need to decide what the product is going to be.