DEMOCRATIC TECHNOLOGIES 224
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SUBVERTISEMENT

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A parody advertisement is a fictional advertisement for a non-existent product, either done within another advertisement for an actual product, or done simply as parody of advertisements—used either as a way of ridiculing or drawing negative attention towards a real advertisement or such an advertisement's subject, or as a comedic device, such as in a comedy skit or sketch.
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One of the magazine projects will be what we call a "subvertisement". In this single page you'll want to create a satirical look at a facet of our commercial culture. Adbuster's magazine is full of these examples.  Posted a few below. 
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A Brief History

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Assignment:
The subvertisement project is a graphic and video design challenge in which students identify an issue in advertising and create a parody ad(s) to fight propaganda or disinformation. As a class we agreed we were going to come in with three examples or more. You can take a shotgun approach and scatter your attention across many different topics or be laser focused on one topic with many different iterations.
Your print ad subvertisements should be 8.5x11 inches in either orientation.
You can use any medium you choose.
The origination of the idea should be your own- Meaning, don't use AI to generate ideas, but you can use it to help you achieve your results.

Your 3 subvertisements are the graphic part of the assignment. The other part will be a written script for another group podcast called Deep Dive. In a 3 minute maximum timeframe, you will tell the story about your topic and get the audience motivated to do something about it. Use the John Oliver style as a template. 
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Identify the issue
Explain several examples of the problem. Your subvertisements should correspond to the story you're telling


Elements of a good script:
Introduce yourself. Your segment will be part of a larger show so you only have to deliver your opening narrative hook that introduces your topic and say your name, no name of the show is necessary.
Cover the Who - is involved and/or responsible?,
What - is the core issue and its effects?
Why is this important?
Where is this problem happening?
When did it begin etc?
How do your viewers get invcolved? 
Don't forget the summary and sign off.

You should use AT LEAST 2 articles or videos to make your points. Save bibliographical info for your webpage. 


Subvertisement Podcast
You're going to expand that topic into a 300 word essay that brings at least two references in to make your points. Remember, we're interested in a factual representation of the issue and not just opinions. You can have a personal statement at the end of your piece, but everything in your essay should be factual.
Please watch the John Oliver video and notice how he and his staff tell the story by giving exposition about the topic and then they introduce contrary opinions and information from interviews and sources.
Select any of his others and watch a couple to get the idea.  

This is investigative journalism dressed up as comedy and that really helps to bring the message home to people. There's a long tradition of this approach and it helps with tough topics.

Your essay will become a two page spread in our magazine or at least a fully developed page on our class site. Please continue to refine the graphic subvertisement to fit your topic and make it more direct as an illustration of your points. I offered a lot of suggestions on how to make some changes in your visual component, so if you're having trouble with that, reach out to me ASAP.

Please have your script ready to go next class. You should have graphics ready but you'll put them in your video in the editing phase, not live.
Don't be afraid to speak the truth.
Make it fun and informative and the kind of video you'd want your friends to see.
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