Frontline

“The frontline” is a PBS show that discussed issues of advertisement and multimedia in two different episodes. The first section, “The Persuaders”, discusses how advertisement companies work and how we have become immune to many of the persuasive slogans we encounter. That means that advertisement companies have to make the advertisements bigger and better in order to connect to the audience. The other episode, “Merchants of Cool”, mentions how companies and products try to connect to that audience. In fact, it states that the audience is what gives inspiration to new ideas for products. The best thing that teachers can take from these videos and use in the classroom is the awareness of the influences of multimedia in our daily lives. At the same time, educators can use the media and advertisements to relate to students with popular culture.

If we walk down any major street in the heart of the city there is nowhere to look without spotting an advertisement. They have become background clutter. What educators need to do with all of this clutter is point it out. Students need to learn that advertisements are even in the movies and TV shows that they watch. We can use this video to show students why they might want to choose a specific product over another. Students can learn that they usually choose a brand for a sense of community because that is the biggest seller. Advertisements sell more than products, they sell solidarity. It is up to the teachers to help students understand consumerism. Students have the right to know that advertisements are, “what people want to hear, not what you want to tell them”. Educators need to be the connectors for students to understand who the audience a specific product is for or what the advertisement is secretly trying to sell in order for students to learn to devise their own sense of filters through the clutter. I plan to use the quote, “As long as we are thinking about ourselves we are better consumers.” I would want students to look at it from the aspect of consumers and then again from the perspective of producers and determine who would benefit more from the quote.

If we use these videos we can show students that they are the whole reason our economy thrives on popular culture. The second episode in Frontline refers to consumerism as a machine. It is constantly running and even running in circles or, as the TV show states, “feedback loop”. Educators can use popular culture to relate some higher order thinking theories to the students. The multimedia of popular culture can be used in conjunction with teaching persuasive elements and even poetry. We can use it to connect stereotypes to figuring audience in a speech. We can even incorporate advertisements into writing assignments or focus on literacy skills. All of the media that bombards our children can be used constructively if we intertwine it into a thematic unit of critical thinking.

There are some issues with trying to incorporate multimedia and advertisement discussion into the classrooms though. For instance, some schools do not have access to some of the newest technology or even chances to educate teachers to use it. Also, if we had students looking on-line there is a chance they could get bombarded with things that are not allowed in the school setting. Some technology can get distracting as well as forcing popular culture into the classroom. Some people may not agree with the popular culture and may get offended if we discuss advertisements. There is a chance that parents may assume we are trying to teach their child to be like the stereotypes in the advertisements. Also, if the discussions of stereotypes do follow a structure, it can lead to a mess of insults to others. The conversations would need to be controlled.

It is risky to incorporate the popular culture into the classroom because it has not been understood yet. Many teachers have a hard time finding a connection to popular culture and the current curriculum. I think it is important that teachers study the culture so that we can all help our youth become better consumers. If we teach our youth the power of persuasion and impulse buy, then it’s possible we can eliminate some of the individualistic mentality of wanting more materialism. I have not had the opportunity to witness many teachers incorporating popular culture into the classroom. It is a new approach to learning and that is why teachers are afraid of it. It is not yet understood or fully accepted yet, but if we hold strong we can convince the right people that learning the truth is more beneficial in the long wrong.