Task: Discuss the following text.

Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this is why they’re always coming in for criticism. Their critics seem to resent them because they have a flair for self-promotion and because they have so much money to throw around. "It’s iniquitous ” they say, "that this entirely unproductive industry (if we can call it that) should absorb millions of pounds each year. It only goes to show how much profit the big companies are making. Why don't they stop advertising and reduce the price of their goods? After all it's the consumer who pays..."

The poor old consumer! He'd have to pay a great deal more if advertising didn't create mass markets for products. It is precisely because of the heavy advertising that consumer goods are so cheap. But we get the wrong idea if we think the only purpose of advertising is to sell goods. Another equally important function is to inform. A great deal of the knowledge we have about household goods derives largely from the advertisements we read. Advertisements introduce us to new products or remind us of the existence of ones we already know about. Supposing you wanted to buy a washing machine, it is more than likely you would obtain details regarding performance, price, etc., from an advertisement.

Lots of people pretend that they never read advertisements, but this claim may­be seriously doubted. It is hardly possible not to read advertisements these days. And what fun they often are, too! Just think what a railway station or a newspaper would be like without advertisements. Would you enjoy gazing at a blank wall or reading railway bye-laws while waiting for a train? Would you like to read only closely-printed columns of news in your daily paper? A cheerful, witty advertisement makes such a difference to a drab wall or a newspaper, full of daily ration of calamities.

We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets. Newspapers, commercial radio and television companies could not subsist without this source of revenue The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper, or can enjoy so many broadcast programs is due entirely to the money spent by the advertisers. Just think what a newspaper would cost if we had to pay its full price!

Another thing we mustn't forget is "small ads" which are virtually in every newspaper and magazine. What a tremendously useful service they perform for the community! Just about anything can be accomplished through these columns. For instance, you can find a job, buy or sell a house, announce a birth, marriage or death in what used to be called the " hatch, match and dispatch" columns; but by far the most fascinating section is the personal or " agony” column. No other item in a newspaper provides such entertaining reading or offers such a deep insight into human nature. It's the best advertisement for advertising there is!

Vocabulary:

Campaign

Advertisements are all around us, not just on TV, radio and in the press, but also at sports grounds, in shop windows, and оn posters, carrier bags, badges, T-shirts, buses, hot air balloons. Whether we like it or not, advertising is a powerful force, and countries have rules about what is acceptable advertising.

In parts of Europe, naked women are common in advertisements, but not in Britain and the USA. In some countries of Islam, it is illegal to use photos of women - different ways. The campaign for Impulse Body Perfume showed a man who bought flowers for a woman he had never met before because she was wearing Impulse. In France, the woman was naked on beach; in Britain, a romantic relationship was suggested; in Japan, the meeting was respectable and restrained; in the Arab countries, no version was acceptable and the advertising campaign was dropped.

Britain, like many countries, has strict rules controlling advertisements for alcohol. For example, people shown drinking must clearly be 25 or over, and the ads must not suggest that a particular drink offers the key to success in personal relationships, or that it will make you more attractive or popular. Spirits cannot be advertised on TV in Britain; in other countries, such as Norway, alcohol cannot be advertised at all.

Advertisements are supposed to be truthful, so advertisers avoid saying their product is the best; they usually say it is “better”. So the slogan for British Airways promises “We’ll take more care of you”, and Polaroid encourages you to use their camera and film to “Make your life colorful”. The message behind most advertisements is this product will change you life - by making you richer, healthier, happier, more attractive, more popular, more efficient, and more successful. Do you believe the message? Has a product ever changed your life?

Advertising in the USA

Whether it's in print or on television, radio, or billboards, advertising profoundly influences our lives. The ads we see, hear, and smell (in the case of open-and-sniff perfume inserts in magazines) affect how we feel and what we think about a wide range of products. Companies pay a lot of money (up to $1 million for a 30-second Super Bowl spot) to persuade us that their products are the best.

Advertising has a long history in North America As early as the 1600s ads were used to attract English settlers to the Colonies. According to historian Daniel Boorstin, these brochures contained "hopeful overstatements, half-truths, and downright lies..." Nonetheless, the sales campaign was effective; people came. In the 1700s famous figures were involved in the advertising business, among them Benjamin Franklin, who ran ads in his publications, and Paul Revere, who advertised his handmade false teeth. But it wasn't until the late 1800s, with the boom in mass-circulation magazines, that advertising became the powerful force it is today. Television arrived in the 1940s and created a new, action-packed.advertising medium.

Creating a good ad isn't as easy as it might seem. One key is to find the right spokesperson. An effective approach is to have the company president speak. In the 1980s Chrysler's Lee Lacocca urged viewers, "If you can find a better car, buy it." Another is to hire an athlete, such as superstar Michael Jordan (McDonald’s, Gatorade, and Nike). Still another option is to create unforgettable characters

A memorable slogan is helpful as well: "I can't believe I ate the whole thing", "Where's the beef?"; "You deserve a break today": "It's finger-lickin¹ good"; "Just, do it"; "See the USA in your Chevrolet"; "We try harder"; "When its absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.