Magazine ad and 200 word piece due tomorrow

There is also a quiz on unit 12.
(Section 6 will take the quiz next week. We are working on our ads in class.)

Today we looked at the ShamWow! ad (I think this is the link.).  The main focus of the lesson was to show that it is basically a towel; however, how can the ad run for two minutes and get us to buy a towel?  The answer is artificial means of persuasion.  We call them the ad techniques.  In most classes, we found all 19 techniques that I have posted on my board.  That means that, even though it is just a towel, if you can play on the emotions of the audience and avoid talking about how ordinary it is, you can wow people just long enough for them to pick up those phones and dial.

Ask your child about the ad.  I bet he/she remembers some of the silly arguments Vince uses to sell his towel.

Here is the script of the ad if you are interested.

ShamWow Ad

[Vince, the salesman, is standing behind a table with the towel in his hand and a bowl of water. He is talking to us through the camera.]
Vince: Hi, it’s Vince with ShamWow.

Vince: You’ll be saying “Wow” every time you use this towel. It’s like a shammy, it’s like a towel, it’s like a sponge. A regular towel doesn’t work wet; this works wet or dry. This is for the house, the car, the boat, the RV. ShamWow holds twenty times it’s weight in liquid. Look at it! It just does the work! Why do you want to work twice as hard?

Vince: Doesn’t drip, doesn’t make a mess… wring it out. You wash it in the washing machine. Made in Germany - you know the German’s always make good stuff.

Vince: You can cut it in half - use one as a bath mat, drain dishes with the other one, use one as a towel.

Vince: Olympic divers use it as a towel. Look at that - completely dry [wipes arm].

Vince: Put a wet sweater [on it], roll it up - it dries your sweaters. Here’s some cola. Wine, coffee, cola, pet stains…

Vince: Not only is the damage going to be on top - there’s your mildew - that is going to smell.

Vince: See that? Now we’re going to do this in real time. Look at this - put it on the spill, turn it over - without even putting any pressure, fifty percent of the cola - right there. You following me camera guy?

Vince: The other fifty percent - the color - starts to come up. No other towel is going to do that. It acts like a vacuum, and - look at this - virtually dry on the bottom. See what I’m telling ya? ShamWow - you’ll be saying “wow” every time.


[People talking about their ShamWows at a fair]
Person: “I can’t live without it! I just love it!”
Person: “Oh my gosh. I don’t even buy paper towels anymore.”

Person: “If you’re going to wash your car or any type of vehicle, you’d be out of your mind not to own one of these.”
Person: “All I can say is - Sham-WOW.”

[Back to Vince]
Vince:You’re going to spend twenty dollars a month on paper towels anyway.

Vince: You’re throwing money away.

Vince: The mini ShamWows are for everything - everyday use.

Vince: This lasts ten years, this lasts a week [holds up sponge]. I dunno - it sells itself.


(Some more here. I ran out of time to get this ready.)
[Ordering information]

Ad techniques in the ad: