Teen Targets:

A Brief History of Propaganda and Advertising and the Application of this

Technology to our Adolescent Children
Time Commitment: Three 85-minute periods
Subject Areas: Biology, Social Studies, & Psychology
Grade Levels: 9-12
Lesson Challenge Question: Is it ethical or exploitative for marketers to target teens
with their advertising?

Lesson Design Process

Stage 1:
Identify
Desired
Results

Stage 2:
Determine
Acceptable
Evidence

Stage 3:
Plan Learning
Experiences and
Instruction

Knowledge,
skills, attitudes
and behaviors
needed

Assessments of Sequence of
knowledge,
Individual
skills, and
Learning Experiences
behaviors

Stage 4:
Teacher Reflection

Reflection of
experiences to
produce the desired
results

STAGE 1
Identify Desired Results
OVERVIEW
This lesson investigates the ways in which marketers target our children by appealing to
fundamental biological needs. It will make a connection between the marketers message
and the physiological/genetic drives that they try to exploit. The lesson can be part of a
media literacy program; but it also addresses core-learning goals in biology and social
studies. The investigation will be carried out over three periods: the first two periods will
be devoted to the history of propaganda/marketing, i.e., how political and commercial
institutions have learned to affect the decisions of their respective consumers; the third
period will deal with the internal state of the consumerhow specific messages elicit
specific behavioral and biological responses in our adolescent children. Media literacy
programs have been shown to have a positive effect on student learning. At the same
time, the for-profit media depends upon the innocence of our children. Clearly, our
students can benefit from gaining a more complete perspective on the manipulations of

media outlets and to consider the ethical issues of how these media marketers may be
exploiting them.
This lesson is designed to create a new awareness among the students. As such, it is
intended to be an example of the value of life long research and knowledge; knowledge is
power. The subject matter of this lesson has particular relevance to minority students.
Recent studies have found that minorities are over-represented in music videos and films
depicting violence and risky sexual behavior. This form of racial stereotyping affects the
self-perception of our minority students. By bringing the intentions of marketers to the
students consciousness, it is hoped this lesson will provide an antidote allowing students
to better filter what they see. The materials, which are a part of this lessons readings,
videos, and presentations, contain all the information a teacher needs to carry out the
lesson with students from grades 9-12. Activities include a student-created marketing
campaign designed to be as manipulative as possible and to be done in groups of five.
Technology will be used extensively in this lesson. The teacher will conduct an
advertising class using a PowerPoint presentation provided on the lesson Web site, Table
of Contents for Propaganda Lesson at: http://www.pgcps.org/~nwest/bois, which
contains the PowerPoint presentations for this lesson: Propaganda, Advertising Role
Play, and Science of the Sale. Students will create their own PowerPoint
presentations to demonstrate their product. Thus, both teachers and students must be
familiar with this presentation tool. Students will also perform a WebQuest located at the
lesson site.

STAGE 2
Determine Acceptable Evidence
HIGH SCHOOL CORE LEARNING INDICATORS FOR CONTENT
& TECHNOLOGY
State Learning Outcome:
Social Studies Goals
Expectation 4.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of economic
principles, institutions, and processes required to formulate government
policy.
Indicator 4.1.1 The student will evaluate how governments affect the answers
to the basic economic questions of what to produce, how to produce, and for
whom to produce.
Indicator 4.1.2 The student will utilize the principles of economic costs and
benefits and opportunity cost to analyze the effectiveness of government
policy in achieving socio-economic goals.
Indicator 4.1.4 The student will evaluate the effectiveness of current
monetary and fiscal policy on promoting full employment, price stability, and
economic performance.
Biology Goals

Expectation 3.2 The student will demonstrate an understanding that all

organisms are composed of cells, which can function independently or as part
of multicellular organisms.
Indicator 3.2.2 The student will conclude that cells exist within a narrow
range of environmental conditions and changes to that environment, either
naturally occurring or induced, may cause death of the cell or organism.
Indicator 3.3.3 The student will explain how a genetic trait is determined by
the code in a DNA molecule.
Expectation 3.5 The student will investigate the interdependence of diverse
living organisms and their interactions with the components of the biosphere.

ASSESSMENT

The primary student activity, Ad Campaign, is assessed using the rubric

included in the worksheet (see Student Workbook).
The activity, Powers of Persuasion Reading, includes a series of questions
based on the text. These questions may be given point values.
Students as White Rats Worksheet will be graded as a class. In order to
encourage maximum discussion, this will be no-fault grading; the students
responses will be valued for their intrinsic interest.

STAGE 3
Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction
RESOURCES
Internet Sites:
Maryland Tech Consortium Web Site
http://cte.jhu.edu/mtc
All 2001 Institute instructional Web sites: (Science, Social Studies and
Technology Web Resources, Integrating Multimedia in the Science &
Social Studies Curricula, and Video Utilization For Maximum
Learning) and all mentor teacher workshop lesson plans and links can be
accessed at this site.
The Merchants of Cool
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/
This site is the focus of a WebQuest activity. It contains interviews with
teenagers, media representatives, and critics.
Freedom of Expression
http://www.csulb.edu/%7Ejvancamp/freedom1.html#obscenity
This site is set up by the National Endowment for the Arts. It deals with
issues related to Freedom of Speech.
PowerPoints, WebQuest, and Male Achievement Scripts
http://www.pgcps.org/~nwest/bois

This site contains the PowerPoint presentations for this lesson:

Propaganda, Advertising Role Play, and Science of the Sale. It also
contains the Merchants of Cool WebQuest and associated worksheet.
Video:

PBSs Frontline, The Merchants of Cool.

The video may be purchased at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/etc/tapes.html

Microsoft PowerPoint

Software:
Print Materials:
Welch, David. Powers of Persuasion. History Today August 1999.
This reading is available at:
http://www.findarticles.com/m1373/8_49/55481498/p1/article.jhtml

MATERIALS
Per student:
Pen/pencil
Each student receives a copy of student workbook. This includes the
following cover: Teen Targets: Student Workbook and the worksheets:
o Powers of Persuasion Reading
o Students as White Rats Worksheet & Assessment
o MTV Reality-Check Sketch
o Ad Campaign Assignment and Assessment
Per class:

VCR, monitor, and remote

Teacher computer with Internet access and PowerPoint & projection
device
Six student computers with Internet access and PowerPoint or access to
computer lab

VOCABULARY

Propaganda a doctrine that is being spread by an institution; and the methods

employed in its dissemination.
Stimulus-a cue that determines which response will occur, as well as where and
when it will occur.
Imprinting-the instinctual learning which is restricted to a limited time period
Conditioned reflex-a reflex action by an animal to a previously neutral stimulus
Super-normal stimulus-a stimulus which surpasses a normal stimulus in its
ability to evoke a response

Homeostasis-the steady state physiological condition of the body.

Innate-behaviors which normally occur in all members of a species despite
natural variation in environmental influences.
Fixed action pattern-a complex behavior that, once started, must be completed

PROCEDURES
A critical component of Constructivist theory is the internal mental state of the student.
Once this is assessed, the teacher may ask questions of emerging relevance by pushing
the edge of the students understanding. In this way the student may either construct
additional meaning upon what s/he already knows, or more closely examine some
misperceptions s/he may have. This lesson takes a body of knowledge that students are
intimately familiar withmedia, marketing etc.and rearranges it in a form that more
closely resembles reality, i.e., that marketers are giving messages to the students in order
to make money. This will be achieved by multimedia presentation by the teacher and
activities performed by students. Specifically, students will create a marketing campaign
that targets that most susceptible group with the most disposable income: adolescents and
will present it by means of a PowerPoint presentation. Students will also be performing
a WebQuest. Most of the lesson can be achieved in a one-computer classroom with
access to computer projection. However, it would be preferable to have six computers
with Internet access and PowerPoint available to the students.
Day 1: Messages for Mind Controlthe Technology of Propaganda
Daily Challenge Question: With regard to persuasion, what do governments, marketers,
parents, and teachers have in common?
Set-up Directions:
Teacher must photocopy and staple student workbook for each student. Teacher must set
up a computer to project PowerPoint presentations entitled Propaganda and
Advertising Role Playboth at http://www.pgcps.org/~nwest/bois. Students will be
performing a simple play. Teacher must pre-select six students and rehearse MTV
Reality Check Sketch. PowerPoint slides at: http://www.pgcps.org/~nwest/bois will
provide instant scenery for this sketch.
Teacher Presentation & Motivation:
After posing the challenge question, teacher says: We are now going to see a brief
history of the technology of persuasion. Governments, businesses, and parents all want
to convince people of things. What does government want to convince you of? Parents?
Advertisers? Begin PowerPoint presentation called Propaganda. This introduces the
subject of propaganda and advertising. Teacher leaves final slide (poster of a radio
surrounded by millions) on the screen as she introduces the reading and vocabulary
activity: Powers of Persuasion Reading. Students and teacher play vocabulary game
and then read the selection as a class. Students answer questions as a class. Next, the
teacher does a role play. She is a hip advertising executive and the class is a group of
students wanting to know how to manipulate youth for their own profit. After the final

slide, students perform the pre-rehearsed MTV Reality-Check Sketch. Now, students
are challenged to come up with their own manipulative ad campaign (see Ad Campaign
Assignment and Assessment). This campaign should target the most inexperienced,
susceptible population possible.
Activity 1: Propaganda PowerPoint Presentation (10 minutes)
Teacher shows Propaganda PowerPoint presentation and discusses the historical
contextWorld War I and World War IIof the slides (see notes in presentation for
background). Teacher leaves the final slide on the screen while Activity 2. is done. It is
a poster encouraging the German people to purchase radios so they can listen to Hitler.
Activity 2: Powers of Persuasion Reading (30 minutes)
Teacher and students define underlined words as a class. Class plays $60,000 Pyramid
game. One student faces the board and gives clues to another student who cannot see the
words. The teacher points to the words to be defined. How many can the pair define in
one minute? Students read Powers of Persuasion Reading as a class. Questions are to
be completed in student packet. This may be done as class or in groups.
Activity 3: Advertising Role Play PowerPoint Presentation (15 minutes)
Teacher tells students he is going to take them to advertising school. Teacher pretends he
is a hip Madison Avenue advertising instructor. Students are to be students at this school.
Teacher shows Advertising Role Play PowerPoint.
Activity 4: MTV Reality-check Sketch (5 minutes)
Class performs pre-rehearsed sketch showing a real ad from MTV, and a more realistic
rewrite of this ad. Cast includes: a narrator, a daughter, and four other family members.
Scenario is in Student Workbook
Activity 5: Ad Campaign Assignment and Assessment (25 minutes)
Students in groups of five, create a marketing campaign and a commercial which they are
to present to others by way of a PowerPoint presentation. Students refer to Ad
Campaign Assignment and Assessment worksheet for instructions. Teacher should go
over these with the class.
Wrap Up:
Ad campaigns will likely move into the next period. Teacher may tell the class to
continue preparation of commercials for homework. Teacher may also review some of
the days concepts. An effective way to do this might be to review student answers to
Powers of Persuasion Reading.
Day 2: Merchants of Cool Video
Daily Challenge Question: How and why do merchants discover what is cool?
Set-up Directions:
Teacher will be showing the Frontline video: Merchants of Cool and will, therefore,
need a VCR and projection device. Students will be working on two assignments. They

will be continuing work on their manipulative ad campaigns. They will also be doing a
WebQuest. Access to six or so classroom computers with Internet access is assumed
(alternatively, the activities could be done separately, i.e., by taking students to a
computer lab for half a period and doing the campaign back in the classroom). The
Merchants of Cool WebQuest is at http://www.pgcps.org/~nwest/bois.
Teacher Presentation & Motivation:
Teacher says: Now for some further instruction on creating your campaigns. Its all
very well to have a product you want to sell, but how do you think marketers find out
what it is that kids like, or what images will sell them on a particular product? After
watching the video, half the class works on the Merchants of Cool WebQuest (see
Student Workbook). The other half continues to work on their Ad campaigns. Towards
the end of the period, groups may begin presenting their Ad Campaign presentations.
Activity 1: Merchants of Cool Video (20 minutes)
Focus for Media Interaction & Viewing Activities:
The focus for media interaction is a specific task to complete and/or information to
identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites or other multimedia
elements. By posing questions before each clip as a focus for viewing, the teacher
checks the understanding of the class at each stage of the video. Teacher says: As
you watch, see if you can answer the following focus for viewing questions: Why are
the boys being questioned; and why are teens so important to advertisers? Play from
title frame until narrator says: What is cool hunting? Stop. Discuss the meaning of
cool with the students. Who determines what is and isnt cool, kids or the
marketers? Teacher says: Watch the next clip. The focus for viewing is: why do
advertisers need to know what is cool; when does something stop being cool? Play
from: What is cool hunting? Stop when the cool hunter complains that the market
kills the cool thing. Teachers says: Sprite sodas were an unpopular drink in the early
90s. Now, as youll see, it is one of the most popular drinks in the world. What
would you do if you were an advertiser trying to make Sprite more successful? The
focus for viewing question is: How did advertisers finally hook into the minds of
teens to make them drink Sprite instead of Pepsi? Play from In the early 90s
Stop when the woman says: Sprite has become an icon in hip hop culture. Discuss
with the class how the image has nothing to do with the product; that the hiphop
culture has nothing to do with Sprites manufacturer, Coca Cola. So, how come teens
buy it? (Answer: Because they fall for the ads). Fast forward to Robert McChesney
interview. Teacher says: This next clip shows how the big corporations gang up on
teens, how they exploit teens. Your focus for viewing: About 200 years ago,
European nations ganged up on Africa, exploited it, and divided it up amongst
themselves so that they could take home big profits at her expense (at this point the
teacher could pull down a map and show a few colonial possessions). Listen to
Robert McChesney say: Teens are like Africa. What does he mean? Also, Sprite is
involved with other companies. Do you have a relationship with the connect the
dots companies? Play from the start of the first Robert McChesney interview.
Stop when narrator says: everybodys happy. Teacher asks: Is everybody happy?
Do marketers care if everyone is happy? Remember the MTV Reality Checkdid
MTV care about the happiness of the family?

Activity 2: Merchants of Cool WebQuest (25 minutes)

Half the class completes the Merchants of Cool WebQuest at
http://www.pgcps.org/~nwest/bois. The other half continue work on their ad campaign
presentations. After WebQuest is complete, each half switches.
Activity 3: Ad Campaign Assignment and Assessment (25 minutes)
Teacher introduces assignment from Student Workbook. Teacher should review and go
over the rubric, as the rubric is itself part of the learning process. Students begin
designing their ad campaigns.
Activity 4: Ad Campaign Presentations (15 minutes)
Students perform their commercials. Students in the class grade each group using the
rubric.
Wrap Up:
Presentations may run into next period. Teacher may comment on some aspects of the
presentations, how they used or did not use the principles of advertising. Teacher says:
Tomorrow, as well as completing your ad campaigns, we are going to look at the
science of persuasion, what the disciplines of psychology and biology know about this
subject.
Day 3: Human Behavior: Science of the Sale
Daily Challenge Question: With regard to persuasion, what do parents and teachers, and
marketers not have in common?
Set-up Directions:
Same as Day 1.
Teacher Presentation & Motivation:
Students continue with their ad campaign presentations. After presentations teacher
introduces the subject of human behavior. Teacher presents the Science of the Sale
PowerPoint presentation at: http://www.pgcps.org/~nwest/bois. Students move into
groups and do Students as White Rats activity. Students attempt to match
psychological terms with examples from the first two days of the lesson. They will also
try and determine what was the possible selective advantage of the trait that the marketers
targeted. For example, an instance of a stimulus from The Merchants of Cool video
might be graphic depictions of sexual behavior, and this appeals to adolescents because
this was the age at which we (in hunter/gatherer days, at least) first began to have
children (having children is an adaptive advantage).
Activity 1: Ad Campaign Presentations, Continued (30 minutes)
Same as Day 2.
Activity 2: Science of the Sale PowerPoint Presentation (35 minutes)
Teacher asks the students whether they think advertising companies do any research into
human behavior. They spend millions. Teacher says: Why do you think they spend so

much money? Answer: Because it works. Teacher says: Watch this PowerPoint
presentation. (Focus for Viewing:) We are going to investigate the relationship between
humans as biological organisms, and humans as consumers. What can marketers and
propagandists find out about us that will help them make the sale? PowerPoint
presentation quickly reviews cells (that they need to be in a favorable environment to
survive); that the behavior of organisms help keep them happy, and, ultimately,
reproduce; that many of these behaviors (list them) are inherited and are subjected to
natural selection; that all organisms live and behave in the ecology; that the behavior of
one organism (Man) is having a huge effect on the environmenton the ecology of many
other organisms; that some humans have a tremendous affect on other humans.
PowerPoint presentation continues with defining by examples the following terms from
psychology: conditioning (Pavlovs dog), association (Pavlovs dog), stimulus (egg
outside gooses nest), supernormal stimulus (huge egg outside gooses nest, stickleback
sex-bomb, celebrity endorsers, super-models), fixed-action pattern (goose rolling egg into
nest, lemmings leaping off cliff to swim to opposite shore), and imprinting (Lorenzs
goslings behaving as if he were their mother).
Activity 3: Psycho Role Play (10 minutes)
Class is divided into six groups. Each group is given one of six psychology terms
conditioning, association, stimulus, supernormal stimulus, fixed-action pattern, and
imprintingto act out. Other students in class have to guess which term they are
dramatizing.
Activity 4: Students as White Rats Activity/Assessment (10 minutes)
Teacher says: Behaviorists (scientists who research behavior) are not allowed to perform
too many experiments on humans. Their animal of choice is the white rat. This rat is
bred specifically to experiment on behavior. Using principles learned from ratsand
other creaturesresearchers have found new ways to target consumers. See if you can
apply what you know to the following advertising strategies. Students complete the
worksheet/assessment.
Wrap Up:
Teacher arranges the class into a large circle. Students give their impressions and
feelings about the last three days. Teacher is strictly a facilitator of this discussion
discussion is student-led.

ENRICHMENT OPTIONS

Community Connection:
Students who feel strongly about the abuse of minors through advertising and
media outlets, can put their concerns into action. For example, area radio stations
carry obscene and violent messages. These are targeted at our young students.
Students could petition the FCC; march with placards in front of these outlets.
They could create brochures detailing the perverse nature of the beamed
messages. They could organize seminars at community functions (e.g., church
meetings, town hall meetings).

Guest Speaker:
This lesson presents an excellent opportunity to invite a speaker from a nearby
law school or communications & media department of a local university to speak
to and answer questions from students on First Amendment rights.

Cross-Curricular Extensions:
o Social Studies
Mass media has flooded the air and cable waves with information targeted at
children. Most other countries outlaw the practice of advertising to minors.
The Constitution of the United States allows for unrestricted freedom of
speech (in the First Amendment). A great social studies
discussion/assignment would be to study the case history of this amendment,
to suggest legally sound ways to exclude advertisers to children from its
protection. Another issue that was addressed in this lesson is the constant
flood of obscene material. The following Web site includes a discussion of
this issue with reference to the First Amendment. http://www.csulb.edu/
%7Ejvancamp/freedom1.html#obscenity
o Fine Arts
Students study poster art, with particular reference to propaganda of the
Second World War. They produce seductive posters that urge people to resist
the marketing onslaught on their adolescent children.
o Math
Students research statistics on this topic (e.g., how much money do advertisers
spend on teens, how much money do teens spend on their products). Math
teacher collects statistics and creates relevant assignments.
o Language
After reviewing arguments for or against their position, students write a paper
defending their opinion.

STAGE 4
Teacher Reflection
As a reflective practitioner, note how this lesson could be adjusted after its initial
implementation. How successful were the students? What did the assessment demonstrate
about the students learning? What skills do the students need to revisit? What
instructional strategies worked and what made them successful? What will you change
the next time you use this lesson? Why?
Teacher Author of Lesson: John Bois
Teammates Name: Katie Egan
School: Northwestern High School
School System: Prince Georges County Public Schools