ESL / EFL Lesson Plan on Meat-Scented Perfume from Burger King

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Burger King releases meat perfume
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0812/081220-perfume.html
Contents
The Article
2

Warm-ups
3

Before Reading / Listening
4

While Reading / Listening
5

Listening Gap Fill
6

After Reading / Listening
7

Student Survey
8

Discussion
9

Language Work
10

Writing
11

Homework
12

Answers
13

20th December, 2008
THE ARTICLE
What do you buy the man who has everything for Christmas? How about some perfume that smells of meat? The US hamburger giant Burger King has just released a fragrance for men based on the smell of its Whopper burger. The company is advertising the scent, called Flame, on its website firemeetsdesire.com. It says: “The Whopper sandwich is America’s favourite burger. Flame….captures the essence of that love and gives it to you.” The website also invites visitors to “Behold the scent of seduction.” The site features a variety of romantic images, including candlelit baths, wine and sunsets. Burger King says Flame will allow men to “Set the mood no matter what mood you’re in the mood for”.
The scent is on sale online for $3.99, although just five days before Christmas, it was sold out. It is on sale in New York, for those who desperately want to buy a bottle. The website that is marketing Flame has a lot of feedback from some very satisfied customers. It seems the body spray is doing some amazing things to make men more irresistible. We found several people who were more than happy with their purchase. Jason Lowe from San Diego said: “I like the smell but would like the body spray to have the smell of extra cheese.” Carmen Diaz from Los Angeles said she loved the smell, but was worried about the number of dogs that now followed her husband. The fragrance has not yet been a big hit with vegetarians.

WARM-UPS
1. BURGERS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about burgers. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your partner(s) and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

Christmas / perfume / smell / advertising / seduction / candlelit baths / in the mood / online / sold out / satisfied customers / body spray / extra cheese / vegetarians

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. THE NEW FRAGRANCE FROM…: You and your partner(s) will make a presentation about some new perfumes. Complete the table below. Share what you wrote with other students for more ideas. Decide as a class who is the best marketing person.
From…
Name
Slogan
Smell
What it will do

Burger King





Shell





My country





Nescafe





My country’s leader





4. PERFECT PRESENT: Students A strongly believe a burger-scented perfume is just as good as any other perfumes and is a great present; Students B strongly believe a burger-scented perfume is a stupid idea and a ridiculous present. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. THE ESSENCE OF…: Different smells capture the essence of different things. Write the smells that capture the essence of the things in the table. Talk about your smells with your partner(s). Change partners and talk again.
English _____________________
childhood _____________________
love _____________________
the 21st century _____________________
me _____________________
peace _____________________
my city _____________________
other _____________________

6. SMELL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘smell’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
BEFORE READING / LISTENING
1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
a.
Burger King is selling perfume that smells of its burgers.
T / F

b.
The new fragrance is called ‘Fire, Meats, Desire’.
T / F

c.
Burger King’s Whopper sandwich is America’s best-selling burger.
T / F

d.
The perfume’s website has a variety of images of burgers and meat.
T / F

e.
There is plenty of the perfume left if you want to buy it online.
T / F

f.
A