buyer beware

Q2 Ad Creator: Introduction

19. Smart Cart

Introduction

Three weeks ago, nobody outside your hallway knew the Media Club existed. Now the front office wants a highlight reel, your teacher-interview episode is getting passed around at every lunch table, and something new is happening: companies are emailing you. 

A headset brand wants to send free gear. The pizza place on the corner wants a shout-out. A phone-case company says they'll pay $50 for a video. 

Getting paid to make content sounds incredible. But every one of those offers asks you to trade something you can't buy back — your audience's trust. Once viewers think you'll say anything for free stuff, they may stop believing you.

In this Quest, you'll learn how advertising actually works, what the law says creators must tell their audience, and how to take a sponsorship without becoming that kind of creator.

Learning Objectives

I can:

  • Identify the persuasion techniques advertisers use to influence what people buy.
  • Explain why creators must disclose sponsorships, free products, and affiliate links.
  • Evaluate a sponsorship offer and decide whether accepting it is honest and fair to my audience.
  • Create an original sponsored segment that is persuasive and transparent.

Middle school student with camera hanging around their next to emphasize items they may have to purchase for their production tream.

Turn and Talk: Who Sold You That?

Task: Discuss with a partner and answer the following:

  • The Purchase: Name something you bought, downloaded, or asked a parent for because you saw a creator using it. What made you want it?
  • The Question: Did you know at the time whether that creator was paid to show it? Would knowing have changed your mind?
  • The Flip: Now imagine it's your Media Club content. If a company paid you to feature something, would you tell your audience? What would you say?

19.Q1 Completing

19.Q2 Vocabulary 

19.Q2 Student Checklist 

 

19.Q2 Teacher Guide

 

MITECS Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students, and

ISTE Standards for Students

1. Empowered Learner
a. Connect their learning needs, strengths, and interests to their goals and use technology to help achieve them and reflect on their progress.
c. Use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
 

2. Digital Citizen
a. Manage their digital identity and understand the lasting impact of their online behaviors on themselves and others, and make safe, legal, and ethical decisions in the digital world.
c. Safeguard their well-being by being intentional about what they do online and how much time they spend online.
d. Take action to protect their digital privacy on devices and manage their personal data and security while online.

5. Computational Thinker
b. Collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.

Websites

  • None