Deception and Advertising: 
When is it Misleading and when is it Puffery?

SUBMITTED BY: Tori T. Thomas   SCHOOL: Hand Middle School

Grade: 8th    SUBJECT: Reading/Language Arts 

CORE CURRICULUM OBJECTIVE (S): Analyze mass media messages: identify the persuasive technique being used; describe the possible cause/effect relationships between mass media coverage and public opinion trends; evaluate selections such as editorials, etc. for relationships. (8-AL12) 

RESTATEMENT: Students will evaluate and an advertisement for false or misleading information.

OVERVIEW: Students will write a cause and effect paragraph describing the product, the promise made, the deception caused and the immediate and long - term consequences.

FOCUS/ESSENTIAL QUESTION (S): How do you determine when an advertisement has misleading statements? How do I write a cause and effect paragraph explaining how the ad is deceptive?

TIME FRAME: Two to three fifty minute periods

RESOURCES: 
* Overhead 
* Overhead pens 
* Pencil 
* Paper 
* Sample advertisements (magazine, newspaper, etc) 
* Copies of each advertisement used 
* Sample cause/effect paragraph (developed as a class)

ASSESSMENT: This lesson's culminating assessment will be to compose a cause/effect paragraph. An assessment rubric is included.

INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES: 

Activity One: 
* This activity should begin with the teacher defining two terms puffery and deception. The teacher should then lead the class in completing a graphic organizer (Venn diagram) that clearly lists differences between the two terms. Once the definition of each term has been clearly defined, the teacher should lead the class in examining example advertisements. 

The teacher should show several ads. The teacher should guide students in determining whether or not an ad is being deceptive or using puffery. Once students seem comfortable analyzing the advertisements, the teacher should hand out the Benadryl advertisement and the worksheet labeled Deception and Advertising: When is it misleading and when is it Puffery (See attachments A and B)? 

The teacher should go through the ad step by step identifying all pertinent parts (See attachment C). Once the teacher is satisfied that students are ready to work on their own, they can break up into groups. The students should break up into groups of three (this will vary depending on class size). After students are in their groups they should assign themselves a job. 

Each group will need someone to evaluate the advertisement for the following things:

* What does the advertisement promise?
*  What is the deception being used? 
* What are the immediate and long-term effects?

Activity Two: 
* After each group member has done his/her part, the group should come back together and discuss its findings. Now that groups have analyzed their ad and discussed their findings, they may now begin brainstorming about their cause/effect paragraph. Before beginning this process, the teacher should bring the students back together as a class and model this process. 

For the paragraph, students should first begin by identifying the product and the promise made by the advertisement. Next, the paragraph should explain how and why the advertisement was misleading or deceptive. 

Finally, they should explain the immediate (if there is one) and long term effects of the deception. The students can now break back into their same groups of three. At this point students should be provided with a sample paragraph to reference as they compose their own. 

Students may now begin drafting their paragraph as a group. 

* Note: I have each student in the group actually write out the part of the advertisement they analyzed and then have one person write the entire thing over to turn in. This helps me to keep each student accountable for doing something at all times.

(A) Deception and Advertising: 
When is it Misleading and when is it Puffery?

Directions: For the following exercise we will analyze an advertisement for false and misleading statements. First we will determine the product and the promise made. Next, we will identify the deception being used. Finally, we will look at the immediate and long-term effects of the ad.

1.

2.

3.

(C) Deception and Puffery

Directions: Advertisements are often exaggerated to boost product appeal. However, sometimes they are down right misleading. They will try and trick consumers into believing that their product will work for anyone. Therefore, it is you and your group member's job to evaluate an ad for its validity. You should look for the product and promise made, the deception used, and the immediate and long -term effects. You should split the duties between each of your group members. You should then write a paragraph stating the information you found. There only needs to be one paragraph per group. Still, each group member must write their findings up and give to the designated person writing the final draft. Your paragraph will be assessed by the following rubric.

Rubric 

 Final Grade __________________ 

Failure to return this rubric will result in a loss of five points.

(A1) Deception and Advertising: 
When is it Misleading and when is it Puffery?

Directions: For the following exercise we will analyze an advertisement for false and misleading statements. First we will determine the product and the promise made. Next, we will identify the deception being used. Finally, we will look at the immediate and long-term effects of the ad.

1.

2.

3.