Download Can You Be Persuaded? - Daviess County Public Schools

Can You Be Persuaded?
Smart Consumers
Recognize persuasive techniques and
Look for Loaded Language
Can
you
be
persuaded?
Everywhere you look these days, you see an advertisement

for something…
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Billboards
Magazines
Newspapers
Television
Movie trailers
Don’t think of these things as literature? THEY ARE!
Even a TV commercial had to be written down sometime!
And all of these ads have the same purpose
Did you know?
Advertisers spend about $200 billion a year
on TV advertising
 The average cost for Super Bowl ads is $2.6
million per 30 second spot
 The average American watches about
24,000 TV commercials a year

http://television-commercial.net/
How do they do it?

Propaganda –
information, ideas, or
rumors deliberately
spread widely to
help or harm a person,
group, movement,
institution, nation,etc.
Loaded Language
Words that are
emotionally
“charged” to
cause a reaction.
 Often adjectives
– words that
describe nouns.
 Tell us which
one, what kind,
or how many.

Slogan
Slogan: A memorable
phrase used in a campaign
or a series of commercials.
 Viewers remember the
slogan and associate it with
the product. Some become
a part of everyday language

Advertisers can
also use this
negatively, to make
you worry that
you’ll lose friends if
you don’t use a
certain product.
 Ex: Join the Pepsi
Generation!

Encourages you to be a
part of what
everybody else is
supposedly doing.

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Uses our natural
attraction to beautiful
people to attract us to
the product.
Consumers want to be
beautiful too, so
shouldn’t we use the
same products as
beautiful people?
 Comparing
two
similar products
with one always
being superior.
 Ex: Tide laundry
detergent vs.
Brand X
k

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Click on the Hamburger Helper
box to watch a “Common Folk” ad

Appeals to the general
public by saying that
the people in the ads
are the same as you.
Associates product with
“normal” way of doing
things.
Ex: Choosy Moms
choose Jif (Peanut
Butter).
Escape

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Getting away from it
all is very appealing.
Pictures and thoughts
that help you imagine
adventures you cannot
really have.
littering Generalities
 Using
attractive
words without
mentioning
details.
 Ex: McDonald’s,
I’m Lovin’ It!
(I’m lovin’ what?)
Nurture


Associates products
with taking care of or
loving someone or
something.
Every time you see an
animal or a child, it
appeals to your
paternal (dad) or
maternal (mom)
instincts.
Scientific/Statistical Claim
 Provides
some
sort of scientific
proof or
experiment, very
specific numbers,
or an impressivesounding
ingredient.
Testimonial/
Celebrity Endorsement
This can also be
a testimonial if
he/she claims to
use the product.
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Associates product use with
a well-known person or a
person who seems
trustworthy.
Consumer led to believe
that he/she will become
more like spokesperson.
Will wearing Nikes help
Muster play better b-ball?
Doubtful!