The authors present activities that help students understand collective behavior in historical and contemporary settings. This topic is particularly appropriate for social studies content areas such as sociology, psychology, American history, and world history, yet it can also be included in the curriculum of other subject areas, such as language arts, fine arts, and educational technology. The authors present a unit plan that encourages students to make informed consumer decisions not only for themselves, but also for the common good. The lessons help students understand their own collective behavior through popular cultural messages such as movie segments, radio transcripts, and media advertisements. (Contains 1 figure.)