Creating A Parody Ad

Marketing to Teens: Parody Ads

Parody ads are a fun way to analyze popular advertisements. When you spoof an ad, you take the elements of the ad that give it power, and make them absurd. You turn the message around to show that it is ridiculous or even untrue. You become savvy to the tricks of advertising!

Overview: In this lesson students explore what's hidden behind advertising messages by analyzing and creating parody advertisements.

Learning Outcomes
Students demonstrate:

• an understanding that advertisements don't necessarily tell the whole truth about a product.
• an awareness that advertisements are designed to deliver very specific messages to consumers.

Preparation
1. View some of the parody ads featured on the Ad Busters Website. Also, try to find the original ad it parodies, if possible. Choose three ads and answer the following questions in your notes. These notes will be handed in as part of this group assignment. Students may be asked to share their responses with the rest of the class.
What was the first thing you noticed about the ad?
What is being made fun of in the ad?
What is different or the same compared to the real ad?
How did it make you feel?
Did the parody ad change how you look at the original advertisers?

2. Read and take notes on how to create your own ad. These notes will be handed in as part of this group assignment.

3. Gather materials needed (as outlined below) and delegate tasks.

4. Create your own parody ad! You may want to make collages by cutting out of magazines, draw or paint your ads, use computer generated images, or you may think of another medium you would like to use.

5. Write a word-processed parody ad analysis that should include your:

• communication objective
• target audience
• explanation of your concept

You will not be making a presentation on your ad, so be sure your ad analysis provides sufficient detail on the rationale behind the decisions made in creating your parody ad.

6. When submitting your parody ad, be sure to also hand in:

• the answers to questions from step 1 (10 pts)
• the notes from step 2 (10 pts)
• your parody ad analysis (15 pts)
• parody ad (25 pts.)

This assignment is worth 60 points!

Materials
You will need:

• construction paper (or small poster board)
• assorted magazines
• art supplies (optional)
• markers