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Writing On- and Offline: Ann McClintock
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Activity 1: Analyzing Ads



1

Look at one of the following sites that advertise products:

  • milk
  • Coca-Cola
  • Volkswagen
    1. What techniques (name calling, glittering generalities, transfer, testimonial, plain folks, card stacking, bandwagon) identified by McClintock do they use? Are they effective? Why or why not?
    2. How do these ads differ from print ads, or ads on TV?

Activity 2: Campaign Ads



2

Look at the "official" sites put out by the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush, Jr., or two other prominent politicians.

  1. Which of the techniques listed above do these sites use?
  2. How are they different from the sites that promote products for sale? How are they similar?

Activity 3: Embedded Ads



3

Ads of one kind or another are now embedded in nearly every commercial site online. For one example, go to Yahoo's homepage.

  1. How many different kinds of ads are present on this page? How do these "marginal" ads influence the way we read and/or use the page--or do they?
  2. How do these ads differ from the ads we encounter in different places every day (on billboards, on TV, on the radio, in magazines, newspapers, on buses and trains, etc.)?






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