
Buy Nothing Day
In this lesson Buy Nothing Day is used as a jumping-off point to look at the role of consumerism in our lives and culture.

Kids, Alcohol and Advertising - Lesson 3: Understanding Brands
Understanding Brands is the third in this series and is intended as a stepping stone to Lesson 4, Interpreting Media Messages. In this lesson, students learn about the importance of branding for developing customer loyalty and recognition of products.

Kids, Alcohol and Advertising - Lesson 4: Interpreting Media Messages
In this lesson, students investigate the importance of branding and messaging, especially as they relate to parity products such as beer and alcohol.

Thinking Like a Tobacco Company: Grades 7-9 - Lesson
In this lesson, students learn how the tobacco industry targets the needs, wishes and desires of young people in order to sell cigarettes.

Watching the elections
Joe McGinniss’ book The Selling of the President had a shocking title for 1968, suggesting as it did that in the television age the presidency had become nothing more than another product to be packaged and sold. MediaSmarts’ resource, Watching the Elections (a lesson for Grades 8-12), shines a light on how the different aspects of an election – from the debates to political ads to the candidates themselves – are actually media products.