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NECESSARY ANGEL AND WYRD PRODUCTION OF
HARDSELL
STUDY GUIDE
Compiled and Created by:
Sarah Green, Educator Advisory
Kate Rodgers, OISE Intern
NECESSARY ANGEL AND WYRD PRODUCTION OF
HARDSELL
Welcome to our 08.09 production of the Necessary Angel and Wyrd Production of HARDSELL,
created by Daniel Brooks and Rick Miller. This play is a devised piece exploring the relationship
between an audience and it’s manipulator. Multi-media tools and light-hearted humour make this
show an interesting way for students to start thinking about the implications of the media that they
absorb on a daily basis. Other subject links include Media Studies, History, Economics, Civic Studies
and Philosophy. For details on those content links, see page six.
As with all of our productions, we understand how valuable it is for teachers to prepare their students
so they know what to expect when coming to the theatre. HARDSELL is challenging and is far more
impactful if students are prepared to take in all of the messages presented in the piece. We are
pleased to provide suggestions for numerous activities, prepared by experienced educators, and we
recommend using a minimum of two in-class sessions on pre-performance activities and at least one
session post-performance. We strongly encourage teachers to discuss and explore themes from this
exciting play. If you have any questions, ideas or concerns, contact us at Canadian Stage.
Sincerely,
Rob Kempson
Interim Community Relations Manager
416.367.8243, ext. 280
[email protected]
THEATRE ENHANCEMENT EDUCATION SPONSOR
EDUCATION PROGRAM SPONSOR
Natasha Mytnowych
Associate Director of Artistic and
Audience Development
416.367.8243, ext. 277
[email protected]
EDUCATOR OUTREACH PROGRAM SPONSOR
COMMUNITY ACCESSIBILITY SPONSOR
EMERGING ARTIST PROGRAM SUPPORTER
EDUCATOR ADVISORY SPONSOR
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THE NECESSARY ANGEL AND WYRD PRODUCTION OF
HARDSELL STUDY GUIDE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Your Guide to Live Theatre
Canadian Stage Programs
Other Courses
About the Creative Team
Vaudeville 101
Great Advertising Quotations
Pre-Show Activities
Post-Show Activities
Appendix A
Appendix B
Suggested Reading & References
4
5
6
7
8
10
11
15
17
18
19
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Your Guide to Live Theatre
To all educators:
We recommend that you go over the following simple rules of live theatre
etiquette to ensure that your students have a positive experience and get
the most out of the show.
WHAT’S HOT
•
Arriving at the theatre with enough time before
the show to get your tickets and get to your
seat.
•
WHAT’S NOT
•
Showing up once the play has startedA you will
not be let in until an appropriate break in the
show and you may not be able to sit with your
class.
Allowing other patrons through the lobby and to
the door, and helping senior citizens with heavy
doors.
•
Crowding the front lobby or doors so other
patrons cannot get through, both before and
after the performance.
Sitting and staying in your assigned seat.
Relaxing in your seat before the show by
keeping your feet on the floor.
•
Leaving your hat on so that the person behind
you is watching the play through the brim.
•
Turning off any cell phones and pagers before
the play begins.
•
Bringing food and drinks into the theatre—they
are not allowed past the lobby. This includes
gum!
•
Once the play has started, checking out the
actorsA who are they, what are they saying,
what’s going on between them?
•
Unwrapping noisy candy during the
performance.
•
Keeping any food or drinks in your bag. At
intermission, you can enjoy them in the lobby.
•
Talking once the performance has begun—this
includes blackouts!
•
Remembering that the actors welcome and rely
on your responses.
•
•
Being really open with your friends, teachers,
parents about what you liked and didn’t like
about the play. (But waiting to discuss it until
after the play is over.)
Text messaging during the performance. While
it seems innocent enough, the lit screen
distracts actors and those around you who are
trying to concentrate on the play.
•
Forgetting that, unlike television, the people on
stage are actually real and are affected by your
responses, good and bad.
•
Playing with or throwing anything in your bags
or pockets before, after or during the
performance. You may be removed from the
theatre for doing so.
•
•
Wearing your favourite, comfortable clothing.
•
Realizing that when the lights go out, the play
begins and whatever you had to talk about can
wait.
•
Respecting the fact that flashlights, lighters and •
laser pens are not only distracting for the actors
and other patrons, but can also be very
dangerous.
Talking on a cellular phone or listening to your
iPod/mp3/etc. while the performance is on. You
may be asked to leave for doing so!
•
Deciding that you don’t like going to the theatre
before you’ve even walked in the door.
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NECESSARY ANGEL AND WYRD PRODUCTION OF
HARDSELL
Apr 13 to May 9.09
Created by Daniel Brooks and Rick Miller
A multimedia extravaganza that slyly exposes the lies
inherent in advertising, HARDSELL is a dazzling new
production from Daniel Brooks (Half Life) and
Rick Miller (MacHomer), the creators of Bigger than Jesus,
that examines the commodification of everything.
BACKSTAGE STUDENT WORKSHOPS
In this workshop, students will look inwards to
examine the many roles that they play in their own
lives. Physicalization exercises and writing-in-role, led
by a professional artist, will help students create a
new character and develop the beginnings of a oneperson show. Backstage, students will explore the
Themes Commercialism, pop culture, economics, role integration of design and technology with storytelling.
Available prior to matinees on: Apr 22, Apr 29, May 6
of the media and abuse of power.
Subject areas Drama, Media Studies, History,
ARTISTS-IN-THE-CLASSROOM INTENSIVES
Economics, Civic Studies, Philosophy and History.
To begin, students will examine the force of the
Age Appropriateness Some mature themes.
media. Image construction, manipulation of truth and
Recommended for ages 14+.
commercialization will underscore this discussion.
After gathering material and doing some library-free
STUDENT ENHANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
research, students will have the opportunity to
How are we influenced by the media? Who has the
develop solo shows in a supportive workshop
right and the ability to inflict such manipulation? And
environment. These pieces will explore how the media
why do we all care so much about celebrities? In
affects their lives and the lives of those around them
these workshops, students will explore the impact of
through the creation of a specific character.
the media on our society, and create new solo
performances inspired by their responses to their
prescribed roles.
Curriculum Overview
Theory: The variety of approaches used in playwriting
and creation. The methods of creating and developing
roles within a drama that accurately reflect the
intentions of the performers and the circumstances of
the drama. Defending artistic choices in presenting
challenging material.
Creation: The development of roles that clearly
express a range of feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. The
element of risk associated with playing a role.
Analysis: The connections between the theatre,
students and society. The way in which theatre can
reflect issues, societal concerns, and the culture of
the community, the country, and other countries.
For more information:
Rob Kempson
Interim Community Relations Manager
416.367.8243, ext. 280
[email protected]
To book tickets or workshops:
Christina Hotz
Group Sales Manager
416.367.8243, ext. 266
[email protected]
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NOT A DRAMA TEACHER?
MEDIA STUDIES
HISTORY
Both in content and in production, HARDSELL links
directly to the Media Arts curriculum. In content, the
production examines the distortion of information
and the power of the media in all its forms, as well
as breaking into the concept of the commodification of
everything. In production, HARDSELL takes a multimedia approach to the solo show (featuring several
projections, film and television clips, and sound
effects); students will recognize these elements as
they build the narrative of the media’s influence on
their own lives while watching the performance.
Explore how popular media has changed and
transformed as it has developed over the past
century. From newspapers to radio to television and
now the internet, students will begin to understand the
bias associated with public press, and how that is
translated into current history textbooks. Encourage
your class to approach historical research with a
critical eye as they look at how the media has
distorted trends, events, and even history throughout
time. HARDSELL also offers an opportunity to explore
the history of vaudeville, and associations with that
form.
ECONOMICS
CIVIC STUDIES
HARDSELL examines commodification,
commercialization and the methods by which those
values are inflicted and enforced upon society at
large. As companies become more global, and the
world transforms into a global village (through
increased communication), messages from marketing
departments end up having a much greater impact.
Explore how messages in the media become
integrated into everyday life, and how advertising
affects us all.
Ethical government practices can prove to be
somewhat rare in a modern society. As HARDSELL
examines the manipulation of the public associated
with the media, students can connect with political
and social ethics and the fragility of those systems.
Explore how government advertising is an exploitation
and mis-use of democracy, contrasted against how
democracy intersects with free speech.
PHILOSOPHY
Rationalization, and the quest for “economy”
throughout the global village of the world, has
become a dominant force in all communities, whether
they are artistic, business, economic, or socially
based. In this quest for rationalization, people are
less likely to take the time to examine and critique
the information that they are bombarded with. This
may be leading society into an age of fads, without
the ability or desire to process information effectively.
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ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM
RICK MILLER – Performer & Co-Creator
For Necessary Angel: Bigger Than Jesus.
Other: Rick Miller trained in Montreal as an architect, actor, musician, and playwright, and has performed in five
languages on four continents. As Artistic Director of WYRD Productions, he has created and performed shows such as
Art?, Slightly Bent, Into the Ring, and the worldwide hit MacHomer. The two latest WYRD Productions are co-creations
with Daniel Brooks and Necessary Angel: Bigger Than Jesus, and HARDSELL. Bigger Than Jesus, which won 3 Dora
Awards in 2005, is now in its fourth year of international touring, and has been performed in English, French, German,
and Italian. Rick is also a frequent collaborator with director Robert Lepage, having worked on such plays as La
Géométrie des Miracles, Zulu Time (co-created with Peter Gabriel), on the film Possible Worlds, and on the new play
Lipsynch, a 9-hour epic which will tour through 2009. Rick is also the host of the ABC TV series Just For Laughs. He
lives in Toronto with his wife Stephanie Baptist and their daughters Vivian and Ellen.
DANIEL BROOKS – Director & Co-Creator
For Necessary Angel: Half Life; Bigger Than Jesus; Insomnia; The Eco Show.
Other: Daniel has been a mainstay of Canada’s theatre community for the past 20 years. He has worked as a director,
writer, actor, producer, and teacher. Some of his creations include Red Tape and 86; An Autopsy (with Don McKellar and
Tracy Wright); The Lorca Play, House, Here Lies Henry, Monster, and Cul-de-sac (all with Daniel MacIvor); The Noam
Chomsky Lectures and Insomnia (with Guillermo Verdecchia); Bigger Than Jesus (with Rick Miller); and The Good Life.
His work as a director includes John Mighton’s PossibleWorlds and Half Life, Goethe’s Faust, and Beckett’s Endgame.
His most recent play is The Eco Show. He has won and been nominated for many theatre awards. He was the first
recipient of the prestigious Elinore and Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre for directing. His work has traveled across
Canada and around the world. He is currently the Artistic Director of The Necessary Angel Theatre Company.
BEN CHAISSON – Sound Designer; Co-Set & Projection Designer
For Necessary Angel: Bigger Than Jesus; The Eco Show.
Other: Ben Chaisson is a Certified Montessori Classroom Assistant, Bartender, former radio personality and an award
nominated Sound and Projections Designer. Ben has worked on stages in places as far off as New Zealand, Scotland,
Italy and Germany. In Canada, Ben’s designs have been seen and heard in theatres in St. Johns, his native Halifax,
Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria. As Asst. Technical Director: Merlin (LKTYP).
As Sound Designer: Into the Ring (Wyrd/MTYP); Wit, Very Heaven (Centaur); Anaconda (L’espace Tangente). As
Projection Designer: The Eco Show (Necessary Angel). His sound, video and set designs for Bigger Than Jesus (with
wife Beth Kates) were nominated for two 2005 Dora Awards, as well as two Betty Awards. He is currently creating a
number of his own new works.
BETH KATES – Lighting & Costume Designer; Co-Set & Projection Designer
For Necessary Angel: Bigger Than Jesus.
Other: Lighting Design: Miinigoowezewin, Spurt of Blood (Banff Centre Arts Festival); Urban Industry, Blue, Strictly
Montreal (MYTH Prod.), Slightly Bent (Wyrd Prod.); Music for Contortionist (Shaw Festival/Tarragon). Lighting & Set
Design: Songs for a New World (Color+Light Prod.); MacHomer (Wyrd Prod.). Set & Costume Design: All The World
(Geordie Theatre Prod.), Anaconda (L’espace Tangente). Set, Lighting & Projection Design: Bigger Than Jesus, Into The
Ring (Wyrd Productions), The Backyardigans (Koba Ent.). Asst. Lighting Designer: Geometry of Miracles (ExMachina/
Robert Lepage), Hunger Striking (Theatre Passe Muraille). In 2005, Beth was nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore
Awards, and won one for Outstanding Lighting Design for her work on Bigger Than Jesus. She was also nominated for a
Dora in 2007 for her lighting design of Songs for a New World. Having designed and stage managed her way around the
world, she is happy to be back home for a few days in Toronto. Beth would like to thank Necessary Angel & WYRD
Productions for their support, Rick for his trust and talent, Daniel for his vision and humour, and Ben for everything else.
TANYA GREVE – Stage Manager
For Necessary Angel: Insomnia; The Eco Show.
Other: Three Squares a Day, The Yoko Ono Project and Alien Creature for Theatre Passe Muraille; A Short History of
Night, Glace Bay Miner’s Museum, The Gwendolyn Poems and Trout Stanley for Factory Theatre; Girl in the Goldfish
Bowl for Tarragon Theatre; Treasure Island, Jacob Two Two’s First Spy Case, The Nutmeg Princess and The Secret
Garden for Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People; What Lies Before Us and Time After Time: The Chet Baker Project
for Crow’s Theatre; and eight seasons at the Blyth Festival. Ms. Greve has also been part of the workshop processes for
Half Life for Necessary Angel; Bear With Me for Nightwood Theatre; Director’s Cut for Crow’s Theatre and Baby Finger
and The Last Dog of War for Linda Griffiths.
7
VAUDVILLE 101
While HARDSELL is not a traditional vaudeville show, many of its structural elements are inspired by the
style. Understanding this unique form can aid in understanding how the artists involved in HARDSELL have
manipulated it for their own purposes.
Overview
While the Wright Brothers made their first successful flight, Jack London wrote Call of the Wild, and Henry
Ford started his motor company, Vaudeville was beginning and people were escaping to the theatre to be
entertained. Beginning in the 1880s and running through the 1920s, Vaudeville was home to more than
25,000 performers who were an essential part of every community. Venues ranged from local small-town
stages, offering “continuous” performances with as many as six shows each day for only ten cents, to more
expensive houses, called “two-a-days,” offering two shows daily. The pinnacle of success was New York
City's Palace Theatre, where every vaudevillian aspired to perform and tickets cost upwards of two dollars. It
was the most popular form of entertainment in America.
Variety entertainment emerged gradually throughout the nineteenth century, starting in circus sideshows,
concert saloons, burlesque theatres, minstrel shows, and dime museum performances. These early forms of
variety theatre had an unsavory reputation associated with rough-house behaviour and prostitution, and
appealed mainly to working class men. By the second half of the century industrialization and immigration
lead to mass urbanization. Mangers began to recognize that theatrical offerings appropriate for a wider
audience meant more money and so Vaudeville was born and was quickly established as a central point for
American cultural life. Vaudeville appealed to a broad cross-spectrum of the public, representing every class
and ethnic group, with something for everyone.
The Show
Vaudeville was variety entertainment, presenting a diverse series of short acts, or “turns.” The shows usually
opened with a newsreel so latecomers would not miss a live act and then consisted of approximately 13 acts,
most of which were typically 6-15 minutes long, starting and ending with the weakest. The performances
ranged from the truly talented to the simply quirky: musicians, hypnotists, contortionists, barrel jumpers,
magicians, tumblers, singers, bird-imitators, equilibrists, impersonators, clay-molders, shadowists, knifethrowers, acrobats, math wizards, trained animals, yodelers, etc. The real focus of Vaudeville, however, was
comedy, since a great comic brought in the biggest crowds.
All Vaudeville comedy acts were dependent on
stock materials for inspiration, which included jokes
and song parodies; monologues -- strings of jokes
or comic lectures; bits -- two- or three-person joke
routines; and sketches -- short comic scenes, often
with a story. Vaudevillian comedians excelled at
then adding business to these stock materials, or in
other words, the humor of inflections and body
language that could not be transcribed into words.
“Vaudeville was more than an assembly of ragtime pantaloons,
topical monologists, eccentric dancers, barrel-house songbirds,
magicians, tumblers and jugglers, more than a coast-to-coast
network of once-gilded theatres now shambling into plaster dust.
Vaudeville was a people’s culture. What has remained of
Vaudeville is the act—a distillation of a performer’s best
material into a near-perfect performance piece: the product of
personality, talent and skill—the vaudevillian’s reason for
living.” -Frank Cullen
Once an act was a success, performers both talented and quirky alike, would begin to be known for the
specialty and would begin touring the national Vaudeville circuit. The travelling that was inherent in this
business was only possible because of train transportation and the telegraph, which is yet another reason
why Vaudeville was a product of its time and place.
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Ethnic Caricatures and Ethnicity on the Vaudeville Stage
Humor based on ethnic characterizations was a major component of many Vaudeville routines, as it had been
in folk-culture-based entertainment and other forms of popular culture. Vaudeville was a fusion of centuriesold cultural traditions, including the English Music Hall, “Blackface” characterizations of African Americans in
minstrel shows of antebellum America, and Yiddish theater. “Dialect acts” featured comic caricatures of many
other ethnic groups, most commonly Irish, Italians, Germans, and Jews. Vaudeville’s attraction was more
than simply a series of entertaining sketches. It was symbolic of the cultural diversity of early twentieth
century America.
Many audiences, daily forced to conform to society's
norms, enjoyed the uninhibited expression of
blackface comedians and the baggy pants “low
comedy” of dialect acts. They enjoyed recognizing and
laughing at performances based on their own ethnic
identities. Some performers were new immigrants and
made acts from the confusions of being a foreigner,
while others displayed skills they had learned back in
the old country. These acts were a form of
assimilation, in which they could become active parts
of popular culture through representations of their
heritage.
Though certainly not free from the prejudice of the times, Vaudeville was the earliest entertainment form to
cross racial and class boundaries. For many, Vaudeville was people’s first exposure to the cultures of those
living right down the street. In New York during the second half of the 19th century, close to 50% of the
population had been born abroad. By the end of Vaudeville's heyday, the early 1930s, most ethnic acts had
been eliminated from the bill or toned down to be less offensive.
The End of an Era
With the advent of the radio, America found a free and easy
“Our Vaudeville theatres make strong appeals to
way to tap into that variety of entertainment they had looked
the public by offering an entertainment that
for in Vaudeville. With such specialized skills, the performers
amuses without taxing. To those whose minds are
continued to perform to smaller and smaller crowds. As the
full of business cares and who do not feel up to
film industry grew, theaters began to show films, and the few
following the dialogue and situations of a play
which demands a certain amount of intellectual
vaudevillians left took what work they could get performing
between reels. Ironically, it is through these new entertainment effort, vaudeville is a boon.”
media that Vaudeville eventually left its greatest mark. Former -New York Herald, September 3, 1893
Vaudevillians, such as Burt Williams, Buster Keaton and
Charlie Chaplin, incorporated the animated physical comedy of
the Vaudeville stage into silent movies. Many other early radio, television and film stars also began as
Vaudeville performers: Bob Hope, Edgar Bergen, Abbott & Costello, the Marx Brothers, Burns & Allen, Will
Rogers, Fanny Brice, Bert Lahr and Ray Bolger (the latter two being best known today as the Cowardly Lion
and the Scarecrow in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz).
The influence of Vaudeville on popular entertainment can be seen far beyond the early silver screen. Today,
shows such as Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live continue the traditions of popular
variety entertainment and the situation comedies popular on television today are built from many of the same
raw materials that shaped the comedy of the Vaudeville stage.
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GREAT ADVERTISING QUOTATIONS
HARDSELL makes every effort to comment on the
many types of advertising and media manipulation
prevalent in our world today. Everything is a ‘sell.’
Here are some great historical quotes about the
nature of advertising. Consider how truthful you think
each one is. Challenge your perceptions. Re-think
your opinions.
"The spectator-buyer is meant to envy herself as she
will become if she buys the product. She is meant to
imagine herself transformed by the product into an
object of envy for others, an envy which will then
justify her loving herself. One could put this another
way: the publicity image steals her love of herself as
she is, and offers it back to her for the price of the
product."
- John Berger, Ways of Seeing
"Historians and archaeologists will one day discover
that the ads of our time are the richest and most
faithful reflections that any society ever made of its
entire range of activities."
- Marshall McLuhan
"An image . . . is not simply a trademark, a design, a
slogan or an easily remembered picture. It is a
studiously crafted personality profile of an individual,
institution, corporation, product or service."
- Daniel Boorstin, quoted in Randall Rothenberg,
Where the Suckers Moon: An Advertising Story
"You now have to decide what 'image' you want for
your brand. Image means personality. Products, like
people, have personalities, and they can make or
break them in the market place."
- David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising
"Sixty percent of the newspaper space may be filled
with advertising, but that advertising does not
command sixty percent of the average reader's
attention. We are inured to most of these
advertisements and commercials; they wash over us
without even dampening the skin. We often do not
stop to even read or watch the ads at all, and when
we do, they rarely penetrate or connect with our
consciousness, let alone transform our identity. True,
we are all persuaded and seduced from time to time
by these ads, encouraged to make irrational impulsive
consumer choices. But that kind of persuasion and
seduction is endemic to social life; we run across it
constantly and develop mechanisms to filter it out and
fend it off."
- Rodney A. Smolla, Information, Imagery, and the
First Amendment: A Case for Expansive Protection of
Commercial Speech
“Advertising degrades the people it appeals to; it
deprives them of their will to choose."
- C. P. Snow, quoted in Eric Clark, The Want Makers:
Inside the World of Advertising
"The buying of time or space is not the taking out of a
hunting license on someone else's private preserve
but is the renting of a stage on which we may
perform."
- Howard Gossage, quoted in Randall Rothenberg,
Where the Suckers Moon: An Advertising Story
"In day-to-day commerce, television is not so much
interested in the business of communications as in the
business of delivering audiences to advertisers.
People are the merchandise, not the shows. The
shows are merely the bait."
- Les Brown, Television: The Business Behind the
Box
"Advertising is criticized on the ground that it can
manipulate consumers to follow the will of the
advertiser. The weight of evidence denies this ability.
Instead, evidence supports the position that
advertising, to be successful, must understand or
anticipate basic human needs and wants and interpret
available goods and services in terms of their wantsatisfying abilities. This is the very opposite of
manipulation."
- Charles H. Sandage, Some Institutional Aspects of
Advertising
10
PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES
1. Anticipation: Wordstorming, Tableau and Rants
Divide the class into five groups. Give each group a different coloured marker and a piece of chart paper with
one word written in the center (identity, masks, consumerism, advertising, character). Instruct the groups to
write as many words, phrases, thoughts, images, memories and/or connotations they can think of in relation
to the word on their paper. After one minute, rotate the papers. Remind students not to waste their time
reading what the previous groups have written; repeats are inevitable and useful. Continue this rotation until
all groups have worked with all five words. After the fourth rotation ask the groups to read everything that is
written on their current paper and look for repetition. Ask them to create a tableau to summarize and
communicate the main ideas about their word. Each group will also create a rant to accompany their frozen
picture. These rants can be written out on a new piece of chart paper and displayed in the classroom.
Explain that these are some underlying themes of HARDSELL. Have students look for the expression of these
themes in the play and compare them to their own tableaux.
2. Predictions
•
•
•
•
Divide the class into small groups and give each group one article about Bigger Than Jesus to read and
then answer the following questions. Have each group present their findings to the class.
What was the writer’s opinion of Bigger Than Jesus? Why? How and why was video technology and
multimedia used in the production? What was said about Rick Miller’s acting style? What was the
production saying about religion according to this reviewer?
How was a dialogue about religion opened in Bigger Than Jesus? How might this creative team use
similar means to open a dialogue about advertising?
Visit http://www.necessaryangel.com/jesus.shtml & http://www.biggerthanj.com/en/about for pictures
and videos of the critically acclaimed production.
Follow these links to find articles and reviews of Bigger Than Jesus:
www.SceneandHeard.ca - http://www.sceneandheard.ca/article.php?id=826&morgue=1
Daily Variety - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5143/is_200412/ai_n18605545
Now Magazine - http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2004-11-25/stage_theatrereviews2.php
Eye - http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_11.25.04/arts/onstage.html
3. Creating Two Types of Advertisements: What is a Hard sell?
In advertising, a hard sell is an advertisement or campaign that uses a more direct, forceful, and overt sales
message, in opposition to a soft sell. These aggressive sales practices are often aimed at pressuring a
customer into completing a transaction quickly. Read the following translations to the class: Publicidad
agresiva (Spanish), vente aggressive (French), aggressive Verkaufstaktik (German), intensa campagna
promozionale (Italian). Discuss what they add to their understanding of the word? Ask if anyone can translate
‘hard sell’ into any other languages. Brainstorm a list of any products that they have seen advertised in overt
and forceful ways. Were these ads effective? A soft sell on the other hand does not pitch a list of reasons
why the consumer should buy, but rather asks them how they think they could benefit from the product or
service, prompting their thinking with what the company has learned from other customers. This more subtle
and unassuming type of sale or advertising lets the customers sell themselves.
•
•
•
Divide the students into pairs. Each group will choose a product and create two short advertisements to
sell that product.
The students can create their ads for any media (TV, radio, newspaper, billboard, magazine) but both
ads must be created for the same media.
The first ad will be a hard sell and the second will be a soft sell. Have the students perform or display
their work and ask the class what version was more effective for them.
11
4. Group Journaling: What is Identity?
Divide the class into small groups and give each group one of the discussion questions about identity listed
below. Have each group choose one person to write down the discussion and another to make an oral report
back to the class.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identity begins with our names, addresses, family groups, and cultural backgrounds, but how does it
grow from there?
Is identity how we see ourselves or how others see us?
Is identity what we are or what we would like to be?
Do we form our own identity or do others form it for us?
Is it possible for identity to change or be changed?
Why is it important to express our identity? How do you express yours?
5. Exploring Online Profiles: What Makes Me Me?
With a Nintendo Wii you can easily create a Mii by selecting the colour and shape of your hair, eyes, and skin
from a variety of menus. Show some celebrity Miis at http://www.showmii.com/ and discuss if these images
present who that individual really is. Even in the tabloids celebrities are represented in a certain way and they
are made into characters in our mind by these portrayals. But, what do we really know about these people? Is
the media to blame or do celebrities try and keep up a certain image? Celebrities such as Ray Charles and
Johnny Cash asked that movie projects about their lives be put on hold until after their death. The creation of
an identity in the minds of others or in the ways we project ourselves to others is not only an issue for
celebrities. On Facebook, you can make a profile at the click of a button and project an image of yourself
through your photos and friends list. If it was the only remaining record of you after your death, would you be
remembered for who you are?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Have the students write down the information about themselves that would appear on a Facebook page,
everything except their name.
Give everyone someone else’s profile and have them write a short biography of the person they just
read about.
Return the profiles and bios to their owner, allow them to read what others wrote and discuss what it
was like for students reading the assumptions made about them based on their profile.
Was it possible for others to recognize who you really are from your Facebook page?
What was something that you found surprising about the bio written for you?
What was missing?
You can choose what you include and what you omit, but why do you make these choices?
Why are there things about us that we keep a secret?
If this Facebook page was all that was left of you after you died, would you feel like you would be
remembered for who you really are?
6. Living in an Electronic Environment
We spend a lot of time in an electronic environment (ie. watching movies, playing video games, listening to
iPods, texting, sending e-mails, Facebook, surfing the web, etc.). Although this is very common, it is a very
new trend to be living in an environment shaped more by electronic media than by the natural world. TV’s
appeared in only 10 percent of American homes in 1950 and personal computers were not common until the
1980s.
•
•
•
•
Brainstorm a list of the “electronic” activities students do regularly.
How many hours, on average, do the students spend daily on each activity?
Calculate their total “plugged-in time” for one day and then over time.
How much time do they spend in an electronic environment each week, each month and each year?
HARDSELL takes place in an electronic environment as it opens a dialogue about advertising and its effects
on the individual and society. (continued on next page)
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6. Living in an Electronic Environment
(continued)
Print the “America Wrongline” ad from http://www.adbusters.org/files/pdf/electronic.pdf.
What is the ad’s message? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of living so much of our lives in an
electronic environment.
- Increase in weight problems/obesity
- Increase in violent behavior
- Overconsumption
- Less time with friends or in nature
+ Good computer skills are important for many jobs
+ Increased access to information
+ Faster and easier long-distance communication
Some “plugged-in time” can be fun and even productive. However, a failure to un-plug can result in many
negative consequences, and cut into other important activities and even affect our identity. Have your
students design an advertisement to promote a healthy lifestyle including a balance of activities.
7. Ads and Anti-Ads Discussion
Show the class one of the listed advertisements and open a discussion with the following questions.
•
What is this ad trying to say/communicate?
•
Who is the intended audience and how do you know?
•
In what type of magazine would you expect to find this ad?
•
How does this ad utilize colours, text, celebrities, personal beliefs?
•
Is it using any cultural norms and standards? In what way?
•
Do you think this is a successful ad? Why? Why not?
Now, show the related anti-ads and try to answer the same questions. Which ad/anti ad do the students find
most successful (per pair and overall)? Why? Explain that Adbusters is the force behind these specific antiads. See Appendix B for more information. Were any students aware of Adbusters prior to this class? Talk
about what they do as an organization. What do the students think about this? Does it sound legitimate? Why
or why not? Is an organization like Adbusters necessary in today’s world? Ad and anti-ad sets include:
Absolute
http://www.absolutad.com/gallery/absolut.jpg
http://www.adbusters.org/gallery/spoofads/alcohol
Obsession
http://www.davidtoc.com/ck/ckad.cfm?Ad_ID=375
http://www.adbusters.org/gallery/spoofads/fashion/obsession_women
Nike
http://www.trizera.com/jsp/n/ads/runn/rantodayordidnt_md.jpg
http://www.adbusters.org/files/images/nike.jpg
8. Anti-Ad Creation and Deconstruction
Ask each student to clip out an advertisement to bring into class, based on which they will create their own
anti-ad, in whatever format they feel the most comfortable/proficient in (ie. Photoshop, hand draw, magazine
cutouts, sketches). Ads with relatively simple text and design work best. Have the students identify the key
messages in the ads they have chosen. Also have them consider the messages that are not contained in their
ads. There are basically three ways to create an anti-ad:
•
•
•
Change the text of the ad, but keep the same image.
Keep the slogan but put a spin on it by changing the image.
Change both the text and the image, in which case students will need to stick closely to the font, colors
and format of the original ad in order to make the spoof work.
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8. Anti-Ad Creation and Deconstruction
(continued)
Display the anti-ads around the classroom and throughout the school. Vote on the best three anti-ads as a
class and submit them to Adbusters in hopes of possible publication. Once students have practiced the
creation of an anti-ad, ask your students to deconstruct those ads, by preparing a brief presentation to discuss
their opinions regarding their original ads and their anti-ads. Discussion should include:
•
•
•
•
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What techniques are employed in each ad?
Do they differ and how effective is the difference?
What is the message’s appeal?
What/who is your target audience?
How and why did they utilize their advertising
strategies?
10. Vaudeville 101: Online
Scavenger Hunt and Creation
Introduce your students to the world of Rick Miller’s
vaudevillian doppelganger in HARDSELL. In pairs, have
the students create online scavenger hunts for How to
Enter Vaudeville (1913), which outlines ninety different
types of acts, makeup techniques, costuming, handling
your baggage, and gets into the nitty-gritty of what made
the Vaudeville circuit tick.
It is available for free and in its entirety at:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?
collId=bobhope&fileName=hope41Apage.db&recNum=0.
Then let the students stump each other as they try to
complete another group’s hunt. Vaudeville was very
much a product of its time; what are some similarities
and some differences today? If we were to have a
Vaudeville show today, what would it look like? Learn
some of the acts, jokes, tricks and create your own 21st
century Vaudeville show that draws on the old stock
material in an appropriate way.
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POST-SHOW ACTIVITIES
1. Ad Placement: ‘Where’s Aldo?’
Right before the students attend the performance, challenge them to try and keep track of how many logos
and advertising slogans they can spot. After the performance ask them to write a list and see how many of
the ad placements they picked up on. Compare and contrast among the students in the class. Then discuss
the effect of media and its impact our senses, sometimes without us even knowing it.
2. A Consumer’s Identity: Multimedia Extended Metaphors
Discuss how “Rick Miller’s” identity as a consumer was portrayed in HARDSELL.
Discuss how students see themselves as consumers. Use the following quote from U.S. Historian Daniel J.
Boorstin as a springboard.
"The deeper problems connected with advertising come less from the unscrupulousness of our 'deceivers'
than from our pleasure in being deceived, less from the desire to seduce than from the desire to be seduced."
Using the article in Appendix A, discuss the validity of these labels. If we are going to make generalizations,
can we think of more categories? Where do they see themselves? Do they defy categorization?
Have each student individually reflect on their experiences as a consumer (the frustrations and the
satisfactions you feel as you go into the world and spend your hard earned money, or lack thereof). Are you a
victim or appreciator of advertising? Each student will now choose a metaphor that will illustrate to others
about who they are as a consumer. To begin, have students define themselves as consumers. Are you a
comparative, carefree, skeptical, gullible, unaffected shopper or something else? If your definition is not
implied in the metaphor, you need to define it early in your project. The metaphor can take the form of an
animal (e.g., an elephant, a fox, an ostrich), a machine (e.g., a bulldozer, a tank, a computer), or something
else. Remind students that any metaphor they choose will be correct if they support their assertion with
specific details. These metaphors can then be turned into:
•
A tabloid exposé that tells readers about you as a writer. Detail your metaphor in a newspaper story like
those that you see in The National Enquirer.
•
A transcript for an interview with the object/person that you have chosen for your metaphor. Have fun
but make sure that the interview, and the connections between you as a writer and the object/person
are clear (e.g., ask it to share its feelings about the comparison).
•
A scrapbook that presents your metaphor to a reader. You can include photos, magazine clippings,
drawings, text, and decorations—whatever makes sense for your metaphor. You can create a paperbased scrapbook, or work online in PowerPoint, using a slide for each page of your scrapbook.
3. Discussion: Was HARDSELL a ‘hard sell?’
Considering the definition of the sales term ‘hard sell’ (see Pre-Show Activity 4) What is the significance of the
title of the theatrical production you just saw? What was the play selling and was it selling it in a forceful or
subtle manner?
Theorists have examined the value of repetition for ‘hard sell’ versus ‘soft sell’ messages to determine their
relative efficacy. Frank Kardes concluded that a soft sell with an inferred conclusion rather than an overt hard
sell can often be more persuasive. How do you think that HARDSELL relates to this theory?
“A multi-media extravaganza, in which the line between product and advertisement is erased. The product
exists to sell itself. The product, in this case, is HARDSELL. Theatrical irony at its nastiest.”
Have students write a written reflection on this quotation (from http://www.necessaryangel.com) considering
their own experience of the play and drawing on specific examples. Do they agree or disagree?
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4. Historical Debate: What is Satire and is HARDSELL that?
Satire is a term used to describe literary work intended to ridicule vice or folly. The term comes from the Latin
satira, meaning “satire, poetic medley,” a word which was used even earlier in the from of satura, or in lanx
satura, meaning “mixed dish, dish filled with various kinds of fruit.” The idea of satire being a dish of mixed
fruits is an appropriate comparison considering that all kinds of human shortcomings are held up to censure
by a ‘variety of fruits:’ irony, sarcasm, derision, parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison,
analogy, double entendre, etc. These methods of ridicule are intended to be funny but they also serve to
attack something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit. Is HARDSELL a satirical
piece?
•
Divide the class into two teams. One team will argue in favour of HARDSELL being a satire and the
other will oppose.
•
The individuals of each side must research the definition and history of satire and discuss the play in
terms of this research in order to prepare their arguments.
5. Identity Masks
In everyday life every one of us plays many roles depending on who we are with, what we are doing or where
we are going. These roles are to varying degrees influenced by their specific circumstance. What masks go
along with these roles? Brainstorm. Who is the real you? In HARDSELL Rick Miller plays many roles and all
are a part of himself, but who is the real Rick Miller (the character)? Have we made products of ourselves to
sell to those around us? Is the real you lost in a plethora of images? How do we create our identity in a highly
electronic, digital world? Are we in control of the image we create of ourselves? What else contributes to this
image? What is the relationship between the world of advertising (the sell) and your identity (the self)? After
this discussion ask the students to reflect on their own thoughts in a journaling assignment.
Then create individual identity masks, which can take the form of actual masks or body masks. Either way,
half of the mask should represent “you the product” and the other should be dedicated to the “real you.” For
body masks, use large rolls of paper to trace the outline of your body. Fill in the outline using collage materials
from magazines, construction-paper cut-outs, or drawings that show your identity.
6. Hardsell in Review: Writing a Review
While the play is still fresh in their minds, have your students write a review of HARDSELL. Have them refer
back to some of the reviews of Bigger Than Jesus they read before the performance (see Pre-Show Activity
2) to give them an idea of the standard approach to theatrical criticism. Remind your students to keep their
house programs after the play in order to have all of the correct information about the production at their
fingertips. The areas the review should cover, in general or more specifically when merited are: all design
elements (set, lighting, sound, and costumes), Rick Miller’s performance, the music and how it supports the
story, the direction, the basic narrative and the central theme(s).
7. Advertisers on Advertising
Give each student one advertising quotation (see page 10). What do they think of it? How does it relate to or
argue with HARDSELL and/or their own beliefs and experiences? Open a discussion with the class.
8. Clowning
Rick Miller has a doppelganger in the central character: There is a line between personal self and the
performed self; he draws on his own experience yet it is a fiction. Who is your doppelganger? The clown.
Introduce clowning and work through developing clowns with the students.
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APPENDIX A
(Post-Show Activity 2: A Consumer’s Identity)
Market research reveals the "nine types of consumers”
I always love these articles on how advertisers and marketers view consumers and general trends. We are
forever being broken down into new categories. "Soccer moms" and "metrosexuals," it now appears, are old
labels. The marketing firm Consumer Eyes has identified nine new ones, in a new book called "Karma
Queens, Geek Gods, and Innerpreneurs" by Ron Rentel and Joe Zellnick. You can download the PDF from
an article in Advertising Age but here is the basic breakdown:
1. Karma Queens: These are the baby boomer ex-hippie women who are susceptible to quirky design, bodymind-spirit advertising and companies that have a woman-to-woman connection.
2. Culture Crossers: These trendsetters cherry pick their favourite things from a variety of continents and
sources like their idol Gwen Stefani.
3. Denim Dads: The modern stay-at-home dad is a music-loving guy who is also handy around the house.
4. E-Litists: These are those who are interested in green products in a moderate way. They shop at Whole
Foods, drive a Prius and idolize Al Gore.
5. Ms. Independents: These are the power single women with disposable income and a taste for the finer
things.
6. Innerpreneurs: Brainstorming entrepreneurs who seek brands that are involved with causes.
7. Geek Gods: Early adopter geeks, the ones who have the latest hot gadgets.
8. Parentocrats: The obsessive parents, the multitasking, busy couples seeking the best products for their
children.
9. Middlemen: The slacker men, ages 21 to 35, who are working dead-end jobs and are passionate about
video games.
I can see myself in a couple of these categories (a little bit karma queen, a little bit innerpreneur, etc.) so I
don't think these are hard and fast separations. Also I don't think this list covers everything; it seems to be focused on the 20-50 age range, leaving out the teens and the deep-pocketed retirees. But if you find yourself
looking at a patchouli-scented, hemp-based iPhone case the next time you're shopping for gear, you'll know
just why the marketers thought you'd want it.
Source:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/shopping/2007/07/market-research.html
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APPENDIX B
(Pre-Show Activity 7: Ads and Anti-Ads Discussion)
Adbusters Magazine
- www.adbusters.com
They are:
•
•
•
Concerned with the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces.
Dedicated to examining the relationship between human beings and their physical and mental
environment.
Trying to coax people from spectator to participant in the quest for balance between economy and
ecology in our world.
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SUGGESTED READING AND RESOURCES
Print
Cullan, Frank. Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. New York and
London: Routledge Press, 2006. (A comprehensive chronicle of vaudeville’s history, performers and industry,
as well as the social and economic forces of the era. Full of photos, biographies and a glossary of hundreds
of terms.)
Jenkins, Henry, What made pistachio nuts?: Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1992. (This book examines what Henry Jenkins calls the anarchistic tradition of
American film comedy. Anarchistic comedies of the 1930s mock the social order and celebrate the creativity
and impulsiveness of their protagonists in a form of clowning that ultimately reestablishes the status quo. )
Lewis, Robert M. From traveling show to vaudeville: theatrical spectacle in America, 1830-1910. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.
Lowry, Ed. Vaudeville Humor: The Collected Jokes, Routines, and Skits of Ed Lowry. Edited and with an
introduction by Paul M. Levitt. Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, 2002.
Online
Learn “Vaudeville Lingo” at http://www.goodmagic.com/carny/vaud.htm
Browse 146 theater playbills and programs in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of
Congress that provide information about variety theater productions, including names of performers,
productions, the different acts that comprised an evening's entertainment, and advertisements.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/varstg:@field(NUMBER(varspbk+varspbil))
Explore a detailed description of vaudeville's origins as “Vaudeville: A Dazzling Display of Heterogeneous
Splendor,” http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain.html
Listen to some examples of vaudevillian comic monologues and comedy routines at
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/sh/humor/vaud_1
Read about The Mask We Wear, an interesting article by Jim Sniechowski and Judith Sherven, Ph.D.
available online at http://www.healthywealthynwise.com/article.asp?Article=3073
Find more great media lesson plans at www.adbusters.com
Educator Preview Nights
Theatre Club
Visit canstage.com for more details on
our other Educator and Student
Enhancement Programs, including:
Professional Development Day: Artist/
Educator Exchange
Educator Advisory
Backstage Student Workshops
Artist-in-the-Classroom Intensives
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