Advertising Communication
Term paper Assignment
Due: Tuesday, Nov. 26 by 11:40 a.m. via Turnitin.com
Advertising is the process of communication whereby a person or group of people are persuaded to take some form of action, usually to make a purchase or participate in a particular behavior. Studies estimate that the typical U.S. citizen will see about 3,000 ads per day. With such a high level of advertising around consumers every day, is it likely that advertising shapes society or that it merely mirrors pre-existing social trends?
Assignment
Students will write a 2,250 to 2,500-word research paper investigating and answering the question: do advertisements mirror pre-existing U.S. social trends or do they shape/create these social trends? Students must select three different advertisements from two different genres to help support their position. These ads can be for the same product, but must be from different media or different time periods. Students should research and discuss the social and/or economic issues during the running of that ad and how it fit(s) into that social and/or economic landscape. Ultimately, you should be answering or discussing what role did that ad, all ads, have in the development of that saying, fashion trend or economic status.
This is a research paper, thus it is expected that students will have five to six (5-6) sources, outside of their textbook and the advertisements. Any print or Web advertisements should be included in the appendix of the paper (not as part of the paper) and links to web commercials should also be provided at the end.