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Instant Lesson™ April 12 1999
"...and now, for all you cats out there..."
Pre-Reading Activities

A: Short Interviews

Questions: Student A

Your topic is cats. Interview at least two other people using these questions.

  1. Do you know anyone who has had a cat as a pet?
  2. Who bought the food for the cat?
  3. How did the owner decide which cat food to buy?
  4. Did the cat ever watch TV?
  5. If cats watched TV, what kind of programs would they like to watch?
Questions: Student B

Your topic is TV commercials. Interview at least two other people using these questions.

  1. What is your favorite TV commercial at the moment? Why do you like it?
  2. Has this ad encouraged you to buy anything? Why or why not?
  3. What is the most successful TV commercial you have ever seen? Why was it so successful?
  4. If a company is making an ad for people of your age group, what do they need to think about?
B: Vocabulary

Match each word in the table with its meaning. (Use your dictionary if necessary.)
 

Words
Meanings
1. stationed a. hard question, riddle
2. consumer  b. advisor
3. guru  c. to research something
4. soundtrack d. placed, sat
5. conundrum  e. user, buyer
6. investigate f. to get started
7. launch (v) g. sound on a film or TV
 
Reading Activities

A: Choose the best answer

Read the article and choose the best answer from the list of choices offered:

1. In January a food maker launched...
  1. a new cat food.
  2. a TV ad.
  3. a soap opera about cats.
2. Whiskas is...
  1. a pet food maker.
  2. an advertising agency.
  3. a cat food maker.
3. The ads are made for...
  1. cats.
  2. cat lovers.
  3. cat owners.
4. Meows, tweets and squeaks are noises...
  1. made by fish, birds and mice.
  2. cats, birds and dogs.
  3. cats, birds and mice.
5. The ad described in today's article...
  1. cost $825 000.
  2. is 10 seconds long.
  3. has been enjoyed by 60% of cats.
6. The article says that many cats show they are watching TV by...
  1. smelling the screen.
  2. looking up or moving their ears.
  3. tapping the TV.
 
 
Ad Men Claim Purr-Fect TV Spot For Cats
LONDON Wednesday January 27 (Reuters) - First there was "girl power," now Britain's advertising gurus have hit upon "pet power." 

A British cat food maker is launching Wednesday what it says is the first TV commercial to go over the heads of pet owners and speak directly to their feline friends. The 40-second ad features cat-friendly pictures of fish, mice, birds and a ball of string set against a soundtrack of meows, tweets and mice-like squeaks. 

Whiskas, the cat food maker, will also be running a 10-second pre-ad spot to urge owners to get their cats stationed in front of the TV set, said M&C Saatchi, the advertising agency that created the $825,000 commercial. 

The ad will be shown during one of Britain's top soap operas when an estimated seven million cats will be watching.

 The advertisers hope the sight of their pets glued to the screen will get owners heading for the shops, the agency said. 

"One of the conundrums of pet food advertising has been that we are advertising to purchasers who don't consume and consumers who don't purchase," agency chief Maurice Saatchi said. 

Tests conducted with hundreds of cats have suggested that 60 percent of cats watching should experience some form of response, the agency said. 

"Reactions range from mild interest, such as looking up or twitching their ears into a listening posture which was very common in research, to more active responses -- a few cats even investigated and tapped the TV," a spokesman said. 

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.
 
B: What does it mean?

Use your understanding of the article to choose the correct meaning for each phrase.

1. "to hit upon" (Paragraph 1)
a. to think out, to get an idea
b. to smack
2. " to go over the heads of" (Paragraph 2)
a. to not understand
b. to avoid the usual decision maker and communicate directly with their boss
3. "glued to the screen" (Paragraph 5)
a. pasted to the screen with gum
b. paying close attention to the screen
4. "heading for the shops" (Paragraph 5)
a. playing soccer while going to the shops
b. going to the shops
C: Thinking Carefully

Answer these questions.

  1. How is the ad described in today's article different to other TV ads for cat food?
  2. How are the advertisers making sure that cat owners will station their cats in front of the TV?
  3. 7 million cats watch 'one of Britain's top soap operas'. How do advertisers know this?
  4. Advertisers are hoping to get a response from cats. What sort of response are they expecting? How do they hope this response will influence cat owners?
  5. Look again at the headline of today's article. Why is the word 'Purr-fect' used?
  6. What do the words 'cat-friendly' (paragraph 2) mean?
D: Vocabulary

Fill spaces in the sentences below with the most suitable pair of words from this table. (There are more words than sentences.)
 

soap opera
girl power
feline friends
pre-ad
cat food
advertising guru
TV spot
advertising agency
pet food
TV set
 
  1. The Spice Girls showed teenagers the strength of ______________ .
  2. ______________ is food made for pets like dogs and cats.
  3. A British cat food maker has an advertisement for the ______________ of pet owners.
  4. A ______________ is a serial TV story about people's lives.
  5. He is an expert on making TV ads. He's an ______________.
  6. M&C Saatchi is an ______________.
 
Post-Reading Activities
You may do one or more of these.

A: Give an Opinion

"One of the conundrums of pet food advertising has been that we are advertising to purchasers who don't consume and consumers who don't purchase...."
Discuss this statement in groups using these questions.
  1. Which words in the sentence could be replaced with the words buyer and user?
  2. Do you think that the cats who respond to the commercial will really like that food better than any other?
  3. Will cat owners be influenced by the advertisement? Why or why not?
  4. How do owners usually decide what to feed their pets?
B: TV Commercial

Work in small groups and write a plan for a TV ad for cat food or some other pet food.

Before you write it answer these questions:
Now write a description of the ad.

 

C: Categorizing words

From the following list of animals choose the four that go in each category below.
 

cat 
zebra
greyhound
rat
pony
mouse
lion
wolf
tiger
horse
squirrel
spaniel
donkey
poodle
leopard
hamster
 
Feline
Canine
Rodent
Equine

© 1999 English To Go Ltd. All rights reserved. News article ©1999 Reuters, used with permission. Not to be reproduced or stored in any way without the permission of English To Go Ltd. http://www.english-to-go.com
 

 

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