Task 3: Adverts and Genre

Task 3 requires you to discuss THREE areas: Narrative Theory, Representation and Genre. Today's session will deal with how we can identify and understand genre conventions in adverts.



FIRST!

Write out how you think we might define the genre of TV adverts. Answer the following questions:

• What distinguishes adverts from other kinds of TV programming?
• What kind of images would we expect to see in an advert?
• What kind of characters do we tend to see in adverts?
• What sort of expectations do you as audiences have of adverts?
• Can you identify the different kinds of adverts that there are?
• How do advert styles merge with one another, pastiche or parody existing adverts?

SECOND!

Get into groups of three or four and plan an advert. You can advertise whatever product you want (as long as it actually exists) and it's up to you whether you want to act it out or simply describe it to the rest of the class. After you've presented your idea, the rest of the class will ask questions about how your idea fits the definition of the Advertisement Genre.



THIRD!

How much do you think adverts have changed over time? Think about adverts that you used to see when you were kids. Were they particularly different to adverts now? Are the representations of gender, sexuality, race or class any different? Why might adverts need to change as time progresses - surely washing up liquid does the same thing now as it did in the 1960s?


Get into to two groups. One group will argue that Adverts are different and have moved with the times, the other will argue that they are exactly the same now as they ever were.