Comments on: Are You A Sucker For Product Placement?

By: Christian Long

Christian Long — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:18:42 +0000

Have you shown your kiddos the infamous “1984” Mac ad (directed by Ridley Scott, created by Chiat/Day) yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

Lots of background. Here’s the most obvious:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(television_commercial)

Intriguing commentary, too: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10148380-36.html

Spent an entire 45 min period on that single 1 min ad just the other day as we launched into Orwell’s like-named novel. The kids had read the “2 Minutes Hate” section early on, but otherwise were completely unsure of the larger connections…and certainly didn’t make the LA Olympics, Cold War, IBM = Big Blue, etc connections until we began to deconstruct it second by second on pause.

Even had them write about it afterward to see what grabbed their attention:

http://rabbitsandcheshirecats.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/sem2-q4-2-surprising-pop-cultural-moment/#comments

By: Eric Hoefler

Eric Hoefler — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:16:28 +0000

This is the kind of “literacy” education I wish happened in more English classrooms, though I’m not at all trying to confine it there. I’m just saying it should at least be happening there.

I’ve appreciated and enjoyed watching you discuss how you bring “math literacy” into your classroom and connect it back to the real lives of students.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:34:56 +0000

I’m glad to see someone else goes off topic occasionally. I do feel like I should be more than just a math teacher. So sometimes I’ll bring in stuff like the above just to broaden their minds. Or if they have some misconception I’ll spend a little time exploring it, whether or not its about math.

Cheers,
Kevin

By: Jazo

Jazo — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:01:10 +0000

I thought the billboard was a coincidence, but I realized it when I saw the vending machine.