The UnBranded Project empowers young people to recognize the depth of the media’s role in nearly all aspects of our lives and question its pervasive reach.

We’ll dig into what it means to be branded and how it influences our choices and the social norms we adhere to.  We’ll dismantle some current and historical ads to determine what’s really being sold to us, how it’s being portrayed, and who “pays” for it in the end. 
We’ll explore the pervasiveness of digital propaganda and the manipulative methods used to market food. We’ll examine how much proof we need to believe the messages we receive from advertisements and how spin and perspective are used to gain our support or keep us on our current path (even if it’s not good for us). 
We’ll learn how marketing and propaganda differ depending on the type of enterprise and we’ll use current and historical advertisements from many organizations to gain this insight. 
Through engaging, critical thinking activities, we’ll gain a sense of how powerful marketing is and how grasping it can give us the upper hand when making important choices. We'll analyze commercials, compare political ads, brainstorm our favorite brands, and create our own propaganda to gain a solid understanding of the course material. 

Week 1-
We’ll learn what it means to be branded and how we get that way. We’ll learn how normal social behaviors (social norms) are created through branding and we’ll explore their personal impacts. 
We’ll learn what’s really being sold to us and how. We’ll get familiar with the techniques used to sell products, services, and ideas and we’ll learn to recognize both hidden and obvious goals of propaganda. We'll investigate propaganda's role in the ideas we hold about ourselves and others.

Week 2- 
We’ll explore diversity, inclusion, and stereotyping in advertisements.  We’ll compare historical and current propaganda to observe the areas of improvement or lack thereof. We’ll also relate the information to the construction and perpetuation of social norms and stereotypes.
We’ll learn how and why digital media has such a powerful impression on our choices compared to other advertising means. We’ll explore our personal exposure and determine how much of an impact digital media has on our lives.

Week 3-
We’ll explore techniques specific to food marketing.  We’ll learn how our taste buds and health are bargaining chips used to advertise food. We’ll also learn how our brains are triggered by different visuals, especially related to food.
We’ll figure out how much proof we really need to decide to purchase a product/service or to accept a group or individual’s ideas. We’ll learn to look for supporting information for the claims made in propaganda and determine if it is enough to make an informed choice.

Week 4-
We’ll learn about spin and perspective in propaganda.  We’ll learn about selective exposure and perception and their roles in political and non-political propaganda.
We’ll figure out if there’s ever any honesty in propaganda.  We’ll learn about the regulations for marketing and determine how much they protect us from misleading propaganda. 

Week 5-We’ll share our final projects with the class and review the concepts we’ve investigated throughout the course.

The UnBranded Project will utilize live weekly class and the Outschool Classroom for regular interaction with classmates and the instructor, regardless of their schedule. Weekly assignments, personal challenges, and class contests will keep the students engaged while they learn.  Learning materials will include videos and slide presentations.  While there are weekly live classes for this course, students will have independent work to complete outside of the classroom.