$10 Dinner

http://www.kfc.com/promos/commercial.asp

The buzz around the state, the nation, and the world is the economic crisis that has cast it's shadow over the stock market. Things seem to be going fine in my small world consisting of BYU campus and my homey apartment but I am still informed and it seems everyone is trying to make sure the American public stays calm. I especially noticed how commercials are letting customers know that certain business are aware of the hurting economy but they are going to make sure that people feel comfortable spending money.

The example that I thought about this week was KFC's most recent commercial. This commercial shows a mother and her two kids taking the "KFC $10 Challenge." They have to be able to buy the ingredients to make a seven-piece meal for under $10. It shows the family in a grocery store shopping for the different ingredients. They meet up a the end with what each memeber has gathered and the mom adds everything up on her calulator to discover that they have gone over their $10 limit. They abandon their cart of groceries and head over to KFC. The announcer the announcer says that a seven-piece meal can't be cooked at home for under $10. He continutes to add that only KFC has the "secret recipie." He urges viewers at the end of the commerical to try the challenge.

As I watched this commercial I thought it was extremely intune with what the American public is thinking right now. The commercial takes the point of view of the viewer by acknowledging that most families are trying to cut costs by eating in. The selling point is that it is cheaper to eat out than try and buy ingredients for the same meal. This ad is essentially telling customers that it is more than ok to eat out without overspending.

I thought this ad could be quite effective in getting people to eat at KFC. I think this could be a great lession in a classroom. I think the main focus could be advertising using current events. I think it would be fun to have the class make a list of current events that have happened within the last six months. With this list, I would have students divide up into groups of about five or so and pick an event to advertise with. Before the groups split up we would have a lesson about how advertisements relate to their audiences. This shows that the company or busines that is advertising cares about what their customers care about. Each group would act out a commercial trying to sell a product using the current event. They would beable to create cosutmes and props out of custruction paper and ribbons (or other craft things the teacher can round up). I think the hands-on will help students learn better.