Uploaded January 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The most brilliant ideas are sometimes so simple you find yourself wondering ‘Now, why did I not think of that?’ In this campaign, IBM and Ogilvy France joined forces to create ads which are both promotional AND functional! (Task 1: Watch the 90-sec ad; what are the 3 practical functions these ads fulfil? Task 2: [H/W] Over to you now. Could you come up with a similar idea?)
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
The most brilliant ideas are sometimes so simple you find yourself wondering ‘Now, why did I not think of that?’ In this campaign, IBM and Ogilvy France joined forces to create ads which are both promotional AND functional! (Task 1: Watch the 90-sec ad; what are the 3 practical functions these ads fulfil? Task 2: [H/W] Over to you now. Could you come up with a similar idea?)
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
![Human Nature - An Inconvenient Truth
Watch this hilarious ad. How many clues can you spot that ‘things are not quite right’?
Many years ago, people used to look upon swans as paragons of fidelity. And then DNA testing came along. Test upon test showed that in every socially monogamous bird species (swans included) around 30% of all the offspring were actually the result of what biologists call ‘EPCs’. In other words, each of these hatchlings was a case of ‘misassigned paternity’.
So - what about us? According to Professor David Barash, Homo Sapiens is a species which is ‘preferentially polygynous, mostly monogamous and avidly adulterous’.
And what about ‘misassigned paternity’? Well, recently there have been many studies and it seems that in the west the figures hover around the 3% mark.
So - do you know anyone who makes a mistake every time they say ‘Dad’? Chances are you do. Only of course they don’t know it… How does that saying go again? Oh, yes: ‘Mother’s baby - father’s…maybe!’ ;-)
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have only uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Human Nature - An Inconvenient Truth](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LcfITz3twSo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ads for ELT - Drama 2
OK – this is one thing you can do with this clip: You get your students in groups. They have to make a plausible story about how the following elements are somehow connected: a murder / riot police / Elvis Priestley / some nudists / a kidnapping / a street fight. That should take about 10 min at least! Then you play the ad….
Alternatively, you can use this Ad for Split Viewing: divide your class into pairs; Student B watches this ad, while Student A watches Ads for ELT - Drama 1 (the idea behind these two is exactly the same). Then they have to describe it to each other and decide which one is the best. Enjoy!
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Ads for ELT - Drama 2](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LxO47b_YDYA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ads for ELT - Wishes
[To get a free worksheet (+KEY, +Script) just click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByC3QwWZuGXddVFnRmJMVVhXZjg/view?usp=sharing ]
A brilliant little ad to act as a springboard for discussion / a short writing activity. Here is the idea: just as Mr Henderson has finished giving a final rub to his new RAV 4, the ‘RAV 4 Genie’ appears and she tells the Henderson family she’s there to make all their wishes come true….
Task 1: What do you think each of the 4 members of the family will wish for?
Task 2: Now watch the clip and make a note of what they actually do wish for.
Task 3: Over to you now. If something like that happened to you, what would you wish for? [Students can write 3-5 lines on a small piece of paper; you can put them on the wall and have the class walk around trying to guess who wrote what…]
I just LOVE ads… [NB: If you happen to know of a good one, plz do send me the links….]
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Ads for ELT - Wishes](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MNHQtaUMSfw/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psychology and ELT - The Forer Effect 1
What is your zodiac sign? Do you think the description of the sign is a reasonably good reflection of who you are? If so, you are not alone. Watch this amazing clip to see how this Astrologer analyses a Psychologists personality (it could have been you!) The second part of the clip is even more fascinating: the Psychologist gave his students a description of their inner world ostensibly based on their zodiac sign and then asked them how accurate they thought it was. What they did not know, was that they all got the same one!
This phenomenon (our tendency to think that vague statements actually apply to us) is called the Forer (or Barnum) Effect. What makes it so widespread are three key factors: a) we are extremely self-focused and we tend to try to relate everything to ourselves; b) we have a build-in tendency to discover patterns and connections even where none exist, and c) we tend to focus on hits (instances when something happens to be true) and ignore the misses (all the other cases).
OK how is all this relevant to ELT? For an excellent demonstration of how we can make use of this effect to get our students to develop their fluency while also engaging them in cohesion-building humanistic activities, you need to watch Psychology and ELT The Forer Effect 2.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psychology and ELT - The Forer Effect 1](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MOOx3uO1YEE/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psychology and ELT - Visibility
This humorous ad is based in an apocryphal story: a university student goes up to the invigilator to deliver his paper, but the latter refuses to accept that because of some irregularity or other. [I won’t spoil it by telling you what happens next! :-) ]
What is interesting here is the issue of ‘visibility’. Numerous studies have shown that we tend to behave more responsibly when we think others can see us (and they know who we are!). This is totally subconscious and it can have all kinds of interesting implications – why not have students (and teachers!) wear a badge with their name on it? This could reduce discipline problems by about 20-30%... [And yes, it is no accident that in many (most?) companies this is standard practice…]
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psychology and ELT - Visibility](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MfjUjqi30Og/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psychology and ELT - Expectations Colour Perceptions
Imagine you are in a lab in order to take part in a tasting experiment. The idea is to rate different types of strawberry yogurt for taste. In order for you to focus on taste exclusively, you are blindfolded. Then the study begins…. (I am not going to spoil it for you… Just watch the clip).
The idea here is that what you expect, is very often what you get. If you tell students something like ‘OK – now we are going to do some writing; I know it’s a little boring but it’s very useful…’ can you blame them if they do find it boring? And what about yourself? Can students really appreciate who you are or how much work you have put into your lesson plan / activities etc.? My answer would be ‘No’. As the experiment here suggests, unless you tell them your lesson is going to be on Vocabulary, they are very likely to think it was on Grammar… The Moral: Shape Student Expectations.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psychology and ELT - Expectations Colour Perceptions](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NHogvBNrIqE/mqdefault.jpg)
![Comedy for ELT - The Handyman
OK – first off, you need to pre-teach unknown vocabulary! ‘Handy’ = i) useful ii) readily accessible / ‘Handyman’ = a person able or employed to do occasional repairs etc. round the house.
So – this is the idea: this lady needed someone to do some work around her house, so she advertised for a handyman…. Another great joke by one of the giants of British Comedy – R. Corbert.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Comedy for ELT - The Handyman](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NMx4y7hwtAw/mqdefault.jpg)
![Human Nature - Mate Selection Heuristics
What are heuristics? They are simple rules of thumb that our brain uses all the time in order to make judgments / decisions quickly and efficiently. They are not always accurate but they sure save us a hell of a lot of time.
Here are some examples of everyday heuristics we use (instead of answering the difficult first Q, our brain uses the answer to the second as an approximation): How happy are you with your life - [What is my mood right now?] / How popular will Obama be in 6 months? - [How popular is he now?] / Is she a good sex-partner? - [What is her Waist-to-Hip ratio?] / Is he an attractive man? - [How tall is he?] (examples taken from Kahneman ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ – p. 98).
Apparently, animals too use heuristics – even guppy fish according to Rory Sutherland.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Human Nature - Mate Selection Heuristics](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N_6eHe3YWVY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psychology and ELT - Focus on the Small End
The term is almost over. ‘Come on’ you tell your class ‘two more assignments to go’. That’s ok. But what do we do in the beginning? Do we say something like ‘OK guys – you cannot afford to relax; we still have 8 assignments ahead!’? Well, if this is the case, perhaps we should reconsider.
In this short clip, the great R. Cialdini reveals the somewhat counter-intuitive result of a number of studies on the subject. The Moral: Perceived progress matters a lot, and the way we frame things may have a significant impact on people’s motivation.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psychology and ELT - Focus on the Small End](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NdUpLZUuGIM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psychology and ELT - What Makes People Tick
This is simply one of the most amazing advertising Case Studies I’ve ever read about! (Ferrier: ‘The Advertising Effect’ – p. 110) Q: What is it that really matters to people? A: i) themselves ii) their friends. And this fantastic campaign combines both elements brilliantly! Notice how brilliantly the Coca-Cola team has made use of the following elements: i) the appeal of our own name (the bottle); ii) our need to connect with friends (‘Share a Coke’ – the printing kiosks); iii) visibility (the billboard); iv) involvement (the online suggestions / voting)!
When we have mastered the use of these elements to motivate our students, to get them to bond, share and participate actively, we will have taken a huge step forward in becoming better educators.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psychology and ELT - What Makes People Tick](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Nl8_e6-EGzY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ads for ELT - DIY
It’s the spring break and the young undergraduate girl returns home – bringing her boyfriend along. The mother is pleased to see her daughter of course, but a little less so to see the boy. Anyway, she cannot very well chuck him out, but, so long as he stays in her home, he will have to abide by the rule ‘Not under my roof!’; the two young lovers are to sleep in different rooms.
Now while this might be a relief if you have been married for 20 years, it is a little hard if you are in the throes of passion, so the young boy does all he can to manage to get to his girlfriend’s room and evade the mother’s vigilant eye. Will he succeed?
This fantastic ad is perfect for split viewing: you get the students in pairs; you get one of the students to close his/her eyes while the other watches the ad. Then the latter has to explain to the former what happened.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Ads for ELT - DIY](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NlUPNFx9Igk/mqdefault.jpg)