TV Ads- Present Simple and Present Continuous Presentation and Practice

TV ads Present Simple and Present Continuous presentation and practice

Part One: Ranking ads

Decide if each of the advertisements below sounds good, bad or so-so and mark them with a tick, a cross or a question mark.

Ad	Most important image in the commercial	Advertiser’s message
A	A toy bulldog decoration is nodding as the car which it is in is driving along the street and the driver is asking questions about car insurance	Churchill Insurance says yes to what its customers really want
B	A car full of young men is falling off the side of a road after they play a trick on their friend by accelerating each time he tries to open the back door	The company saves their customers money by only insuring female drivers (not crazy young men)
C	An orange man is slapping people who are drinking fizzy drinks around the face	Tango soda has a really strong taste
D	A man and a woman are running really fast and crashing through walls of buildings	Levis jeans last a long time and are hard-wearing
E	A boy in old fashioned clothes is cycling up a steep hill to deliver some food	Hovis brown bread is made to a traditional recipe but is worth the extra effort

Rank the advertisements above from one to five from the one which sounds most effective to you to the one which seems the least effective.

 

Part Two: Present Simple and Continuous grammar presentation

Which tenses are used in the left-hand and right-hand columns below? Why are those tenses used?

What is the difference in meaning and use between the two tenses in general?

 

Part Three: Controlled practice

Try to think of key images or messages for at least five of these products:

Most important image in the commercial	Advertiser’s message
	The product makes your breath really fresh
	Cigarettes make you look cool
A man is climbing up the wall of a house to leave a box of chocolates on a women’s bed while she is out
	You either love Marmite yeast spread on your toast or you hate it (no one just thinks that it is okay)
A man is drinking the beer which he should be bringing to his dying father
A mouse is hiding from a cat in the car
Cars are hiding and playing the children’s game hide and seek all around the city
	Our milk tastes so good that you won’t want to share it with anyone
A man and a bear are fighting for something next to a river
The police are arresting the three little pigs for killing the big bad wolf
	Fur coats are made by killing things, so don’t buy them

Put the answers below the fold below into the right gaps above.

--------------------------------------fold, cover or cut------------------------------------------

• A man who looks like Frank Sinatra is smoking on a street corner
• A woman is dragging a bloody animal along a fashion catwalk
• Cats are breaking into a house while a man hides in the kitchen holding something to his chest
• Ford Mondeos keep you safe
• Milk Tray shows how much you love someone
• Peugeots make driving fun
• Some sales reps are running after people to try their product while eager customers are chasing other sales reps who are holding the same product A tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush are standing in a big ice cube
• Stella Artois tastes so good that you just can’t resist it
• The Guardian newspaper tells the story behind the news that others don’t tell you
• We put in lots of effort to make sure that John West tinned salmon has the freshest and most delicious fish in it

Hint: If you get stuck, look at which tense each sentence above has.

 

Suggested answers 

Most important image in the commercial	Advertiser’s message
A tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush are standing in a big ice cube	The product makes your breath really fresh
A man who looks like Frank Sinatra is smoking on a street corner	Cigarettes make you look cool
A man is climbing up the wall of a house to leave a box of chocolates on a women’s bed while she is out	Milk Tray shows how much you love someone
Some sales reps are running after people to try their product while eager customers are chasing other sales reps who are holding the same product	You either love Marmite yeast spread on your toast or you hate it (no one just thinks that it is okay)
A man is drinking the beer which he should be bringing to his dying father	Stella Artois tastes so good that you just can’t resist it
A mouse is hiding from a cat in the car	Ford Mondeos keep you safe
Cars are hiding and playing the children’s game hide and seek all around the city	Peugeots make driving fun
Cats are breaking into a house while a man hides in the kitchen holding something to his chest	Our milk tastes so good that you won’t want to share it with anyone
A man and a bear are fighting for something next to a river	We put in lots of effort to make sure that John West tinned salmon has the freshest and most delicious fish in it
The police are arresting the three little pigs for killing the big bad wolf	The Guardian newspaper tells the story behind the news that others don’t tell you
A woman is dragging a bloody animal along a fashion catwalk	Fur coats are made by killing things, so don’t buy them

Rank the ads above from 1 to 11 in the same way as you did with the first 5.

 

Part Four: Freer practice 

Try to think of a good key image or a message that you want to give a product, then the message or key image that could match that thing.

Suggested products

app (= application, e.g. smartphone application)                           

armchair or sofa

automatic pencil (= mechanical pencil)                                           

biro

bin (= trash can)                                                                                                

business shirt (= dress shirt)

correcting fluid (=Tippex/ Whiteout)                                                 

glue

HDTV                                                                                                                  

humidifier

intercom                                                                                                              

jumper (= sweater)

light bulb                                                                                                             

pot noodles

rubber band                                                                                                       

safe

(winter) scarf                                                                                                      

socket (= electrical outlet)

stapler                                                                                                                 

trainers (= sports shoes)

washing powder                                                                                                

washing up liquid

 

Homework

Watch some of the ads mentioned in today’s lesson on YouTube to discuss in the next class.