Can You Spot the Ad? Teacher Material
Display or have students access the “Nestle Quik” commercial in the student chapter Bunny Ears.
Ask students: is this an ad or a cartoon?
With older students, make a t-chart on the board with the headings Ad and Cartoon, distribute the handout Ad or Cartoon? or have students access the student chapter Ad or Cartoon?.
Have students watch the video again and then fill in the chart with the class. Likely entries include:
| AD | CARTOON |
| Has a branded character (Quik bunny) | Has animated characters |
| Shows a product (Quik) | Tells a story |
| Talks about a product | Is funny |
Ads like this are two things at once: they are both ads and fun cartoons to watch.
Companies use cartoon characters (or “branded characters”) to make their ads funny, entertaining and friendly – just like the cartoons you might like to watch on TV or YouTube. If you like the cartoon, especially if you think the branded character is a lot of fun, you might want your parents to buy that product.
The fact that it’s an ad doesn’t mean it isn’t fun, but it’s important to know when someone is advertising to us.
Now display or have students access the video in the student chapter Brand Experience.
Ask: is this an ad or a game?
Make a t-chart on the board with the headings Ad and Game, distribute the handout Ad or Game? or have students access the student chapter Ad or Game?.
Fill the chart with the class. Likely entries include:
| AD | GAME |
| Has a branded character (Hello Kitty) | You control a character |
| You play with other people | |
| Is on a game platform (Roblox) |
Point out to the class that while the Quik ad had about the same number of characteristics of an ad and of a cartoon, this game has only a few things – primarily the branded character– that makes it like an ad.
Does that mean it’s more of a game than an ad?
- Let the class discuss the question for a few minutes without requiring them to come to a conclusion.
Now ask the students how long they think the Quik ad was (about a minute long). Ask them to guess how long it would take to play the Hello Kitty Roblox game (you can play it as long as you want).
Explain that this is an example of an advergame or branded experience, which is part ad and part game. Remind students that the purpose of branding is to make sure that you recognize a product and that you have good feelings about it. Would playing a fun game for an hour make you remember the character and feel good about it?