This is part 3 of a 4-part guest post that ALPS will post over the next few weeks! Dr. Terry Hathaway works at the University of York, teaching Norwegians about the wonders of British culture, politics, and pubs. His primary research focus is the power of corporations, which he is currently writing a book on. You can find Terry on Bluesky at @terryhathaway.bsky.social or contact him at terry.hathaway -at- york.ac.uk
The third lecture takes a bit of a turn from manipulation by political actors to manipulation by corporate actors, which is my central research area. It starts with the established societal discourse of the “invisible hand of the market” because this obstructs the view of the visible hands of corporations. It then looks at manipulations in the economic sphere by explaining how prices can be used to manipulate, and how advertising and branding can attach ideas such as gender or luxury to consumer ideas of products.
The seminar that follows this lecture is a small group simulation of advertising and product design (and involves a bit of acting). First, download the worksheet. The groups for this can stretch up to 5-6 students without having too much space for free riding, though four is normally best (my general rule for small group work).
One of the features that works really well in this exercise, and a feature I try to repeat in other exercises, is the evil twist. So, in the first sheet the students are trying to sell a drug on a positive aspect, but then in the second, they are denied that positive aspect and have instead to make something generally understood as a negative into a positive. The point of an evil twist is to upend student expectations and push them to think more creatively.
After every group has read the second sheet, I often include a bit of a break in the seminar to show them an American drug advert (either this one, or this one, both from Chantix) and add the requirement that their advertisement has to include mention of the other side/negative effects of their drug.
Because of the switch between the two worksheets, this exercise requires a bit of time watching. In an hour-long session, the first worksheet should take ten minutes, but students can get very into the first sheet and spend too much time on product design that could go entirely out of the window with the evil twist. It’s best not to let the first worksheet go beyond the first fifteen minutes or so. The adverts themselves normally take around two minutes with set up and change over.
The adverts are generally pretty funny and set up an atmosphere where students who don’t like to put themselves out there are more willing to give it a shot. That said, once when an entire group didn’t want to act out their advert, I acted the advert out for them after they designed it; I can’t expect students to break a leg on stage if I’m not also game.
The debrief for this session is to solicit feedback on the adverts and the clever things that students have done – particularly when they have reflected on practices from the real world. I like to finish the session by reflecting more on the importance of paying attention to the language of advertising – how it works, what it’s doing – and to emphasise the power of advertising. The Chantix commercials are particularly good for finishing on the power of advertising because of the hilarious amount of negative information they slip in – the company must really believe in the power of advertising to put out such adverts.