Homework for half term: Accents and Adverts

Dear All,

Please complete these tasks over half term. (Complete them in your books!)

Miss Stark

Task one:

Watch the Heineken commercial: ‘The Water in Majorca’.  It is available on YouTube.  This advert was used in 1980.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz9_YfIQaz4

1. Which accents feature in this commercial?

2. At the beginning of the commercial, a sign says ‘School of Street Credibility’. What does this suggest about the Cockney accent?

3. What are the features of both the Cockney and RP accent / dialect?

4. What stereotypes are presented in this commercial?

5. When the woman drinks Heineken, she magically gains a Cockney accent.  What is the ‘message’ about both the drink and also the Cockney accent?

Task two

 Compile a list of ‘products’ (electronics, supermarkets, shampoo, etc.) and specific retailers (L’Oreal, Cadburys, etc.)

Select three retailers / products. These will form the basis of your investigation. 

Alternatively, investigate three different advertisements from one retailer / product.

Use the Telly Ads website to source and view commercials on your three retailers / products.  http://http://www.tellyads.com/

For older advertisements, you might need to do some extra contextual research.

Listen carefully to the advertisement.  You will need to listen more than once.  It will also be useful if you listen to the advertisement without watching the screen. 

As you listen, make a note of your observations and findings and also what your findings may suggest about how advertisers use accents and dialects to promote their product. 

Discuss and share your findings with your teacher and the rest of the class.

a)  Summarise and explain how TV advertisers use accent and dialect to promote their product and appeal to their audience(s). 

b)  Do your findings support Frank Peters’ view? 

c)  If applicable, explain how the retailer’s use of accents and dialects has changed over time.