Lesson 15 — Activity 3: Analyzing Advertising Content in Audiovisual Media


You are aware that magazines and newspapers contain a great deal of advertising. Now, let's take a look at audiovisual media such as television and movies in more detail to find out how advertisers try to target viewers to purchase their products.

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Suppose we were to choose a TV program intended for teenagers and young adults interested in stories containing comedy and romance. There are many programs intended for this audience. 

To analyze the advertising content of the show, we would need to do the following things:
  • Determine the length of the program (30 minutes, 1 hour, etc.).
  • Watch the show and keep track of the number of advertisements and the length of each ad.
  • Look at the advertisements and group them into categories depending on the type of product being advertised. In this example, we might find many ads for snacks, some for clothes, some for makeup or acne remedies, etc.
  • Look at the advertisements and analyze the different techniques used in each to catch the viewer's interest.
  • Choose examples of typical or common ads that play during the show.
  • Consider whether the ads are appropriate for the show's target audience.

We might be surprised to find that a half-hour time slot for a sitcom has at least 7 or 8 minutes of commercials in it!

Go to the next page to try a Self-check Activity to analyze advertisements to determine the target audience.