During the week of September 16-20, 1990, commercials promoting drugs and alcohol outnumbered the networks' news stories, documentaries, and public service announcements (PSAs) about illegal drugs by a ratio of almost 39 to 1. Considering the commercials alone, promotion of drugs and alcohol outnumbered the antidrug promotions by a ratio of almost…

States that advertising educators have been concerned with the lack of cooperation between advertising and marketing disciplines. Describes a cross-functional educational experiment in which two instructors (one from marketing and one from advertising) formed cross-functional teams for two projects. Concludes that the experiment was successful,…

Argues that, as the category of "technical products" has expanded and the public's enthusiasm for such products has lessened, marketing writers have begun to reconsider their approaches to technology in ads. Studies two technical ads in detail, and compares the ways in which they portray technology. (SR)

Finds enhanced recall of political television commercials from content domains of family and appearance in the case of women as opposed to men candidates, and enhanced recall from the domain of campaign activities in the case of men as opposed to women candidates. Finds that men's attack ads on women elicited greater emotional reaction than…

Four activities for the French language classroom are described. These include helping students discover comparative expressions by using advertisements; using horoscopes for teaching vocabulary; using a missing persons report as a source for intermediate to advanced level discussion, collective writing, and questions; and a video designed to…

Content analysis of 288 advocacy ads in the "Washington Post" and 373 in the "New York Times" showed that (1) for-profit organizations place such ads more frequently, although nonprofit groups are increasing their use; (2) 3 organizations placed a quarter of all the ads; (3) economic and social welfare issues predominated; and (4) primary…

Two books are reviewed: "The Discourse of Advertising," by Guy Cook, and "Competing Discourses, Perspectives and Ideology in Language," by David Lee. Each focuses on several issues central to discourse studies as the catalyst of critical thought and critique of traditional methods in language and linguistics. (Contains one…

Discusses the growth of the Internet and the attitudes of users toward advertising, provides examples of kinds of advertising used on electronic networks, and lists several companies that help advertisers use the Internet. Fifteen guidelines are suggested to help advertisers use the Internet in a reasonable and appropriate way. (Contains 11…

Describes the reasons that companies frequently misspell words that are part of product names. Provides many examples of such misspellings, along with an analysis of why the words were misspelled. (HB)

Identifies and compares the perceived educational needs of advertising and public relations practitioners. Explores differences between practitioners in small versus large markets, and assesses practitioners' beliefs about integrated marketing communications (the merger of advertising and public relations under a single organizational unit). (SR)

Describes how generating effective advertising copy affords students practice in aspects of persuasive writing, such as developing a thesis, refuting counter-arguments, and writing in a comparison-contrast mode. Notes that this approach helps students negotiate the problematic shift from expressive to persuasive discourse without losing their…

Uses a computerized style checker to analyze 14 direct-mail letters used to market books to a middle-class female audience. Outlines methods for correlating stylistic traits with sales success. Finds that letter effectiveness is enhanced by lowering readability levels, as well as by limiting the use of negative words and modifiers. (PRA)

Argues that, before there can be effective criticism of advertising, people must admit that all respond to it in ways that are both pleasing and skeptical, amused and doubting, open and resisting. Discusses listening to the "other reader" and cultural criticism in the composition class. (PRA)

Investigates how advertised university faculty positions in English were filled. Examines types of advertising and types of positions, as well as numbers of applicants. Finds consistency between the positions advertised and the positions filled. (PRA)

Discusses commercial bilingualism in Quebec. Deals with Canada's two official languages and classifies their contact with each other in the world of corporate or brand identity. Discusses what these languages must accomplish in the business world and the new perceptions resulting from their contact. Submits a theory of contact between three…