The Truman Show, The Invention of Lying & Gnomeo and Juliet: Advertising

Both The Truman Shown and The Invention of Lying are great movies with food for thought. I used one scene from each one to talk about advertising, a topic we usually address in our English classes.








I. Work with a partner and discuss the following questions:


1. What makes a good commercial?

2. What are some of the best TV commercials you can remember? Why do you like them?

3. What are some of the worst ads you can remember?

4. When is an ad effective?

5. Is a commercial that you like effective even if you don't remember what it is advertising?

6. How influenced are you by advertising?

7.Do you watch the TV commercials during the TV programs breaks or do you switch channels? Why do you do it?

8. Check the items of features that you think make commercials effective:


( ) Beautiful people

( ) Music

( ) Humor

( ) Real comments made by consumers

( ) Slogans

( ) Famous people

( ) Scientific facts about the product

( ) Animals

( ) Sad stories

( ) Happy families

( ) Ugly people



II. In pairs, decide if you agree or disagree with these statements and why.


1. Advertising needs to be relevant to the consumer’s needs, wants, and values.

2. It is getting harder and harder to get a consumer’s attention these days.

3. Consumer’s tend to block out advertisements, so you need to try and find a unique way of getting them to pay attention.

4. Advertising should be truthful.

5. Being honest is not only ethical, it is also the intelligent way of doing business. No one likes being deceived, and if deception occurs, the consumer will have a negative view of the company.

6. Sometimes advertisement creators get so caught up in designing a creative, cool advertisement that they fail to effectively deliver a message that will facilitate the success of their marketing communications strategy.


Read more at the great site: http://www.mediaonlinewatch.com.au/index.php/five-characteristics-of-effective-advertising/#ixzz1FmheGX67


III. Watch the segment of the movie The Truman Show and discuss the questions:





1. Describe the scene.

2. What product(s) is (are) being advertised?

3. How is it (are they) being advertised?

4. How effective are the ads? Why?

5. Would you buy any of the products? Why?

6. What could be done to improve the quality of the ads?



IV. Now watch the segment of the movie The Invention of Lying and discuss the questions:






1. Describe the scene.

2. What product(s) is (are) being advertised?

3. How is it (are they) being advertised?

4. How effective are the ads? Why?

5. Would you buy any of the products? Why?

6. What could be done to improve the quality of the ads?



Watch the scene from the movie Gnomeo and Juliet and discuss the questions:




1. What is being advertised?

 2. Describe how attractive the ads are. Are they effective?

 3. What product was chosen? What did the shopper consider the most important feature while shopping online? The quality of the ad, the quality of the products advertised, or the price?

 4. Are your criteria the same as the character in the segment?

 5. What's your opinion about shopping online? Have you ever had any problems with Internet shopping. If so, how did you solve the problem?

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - THE TRUMAN SHOW

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - THE INVENTION OF LYING

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - GNOMEO & JULIET