When Ads Rule the World:
The Affects of Advertising on Society
Anti-advertising assignment
Liz Doyle
Honors English 101
Professor Jason Snart
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"Sheep"
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"Ads have even appeared in math textbooks" (Fox, Common Culture, Salespeak 65).
When I first read this quote I thought back to my old junior high algebra book. I remember learning basic algebra with well known juices and other assorted foods, along with brand name gym shoes. I didn't realize it at the time, but I wasn't just learning mathematics, I was also being trained in consumerism. Luckily, I do not live off of Oreos and only wear Nike brand shoes, but some of my classmates may not have been so lucky.
Glencoe (a division of McGraw-Hill)
Glencoe is a textbook superpower who provide books for students in grades 6 through 12. I didn't have any of my old math textbooks so I went to the website (www.glencoe.com) to see if there were any signs of advertising trying to pass as an educational tool. I found a few examples to support this quote amidst a ton of broken links (they're probably trying to hide something). I looked through many of the activities and additional problems the website provided which made it apparently obvious that they were trying to promote spending as much money as possible on useless things. To illustrate this idea take a look at the "problem of the week" below. Who in their right mind spends $100 on souvenirs that only cost $13.50 if you get one of each? I understand it is to teach a concept, but perhaps they should have a word problem in which the character pays all their bills on time. This problem is also teaching students that they must not be satisfied by choosing only one of the three souvenirs. Instead they are taught to want as much as they can get. Student may also learn to expect to have fabulous vacations in other countries. I'm lucky to visit my family in Wisconsin once and awhile. Other problems also focused on money but not saving it or spending it responsibly, but just wasting it on some combination of useless products. Perhaps the only way we can stop the effects of this subtle advertising in textbooks is for parents to sit down with their children and tell them textbooks cannot teach life skills adequately.
Problem of the Week
Teresa is taking a vacation to Mexico. She wants to buy souvenirs that cost $10.00, $3.00, or $0.50. If she wants to spend exactly $100 and buy at least one of each type of souvenir, how many items at each price should she buy?
Glencoe's website has additional resources that are supposed to help students learn the concepts presented in their textbooks. One link brings you to kraft food's website and gives statistics on what foods children like to eat in the morning. Another link connects to www.zdnet.com where visitors can buy brand name computers.