Unit 4 Advertising: Promise-Large Promise-Is The Soul of An Advertisement Samuel Johnson, 1758
Unit 4 Advertising: Promise-Large Promise-Is The Soul of An Advertisement Samuel Johnson, 1758
Unit 4 Advertising: Promise-Large Promise-Is The Soul of An Advertisement Samuel Johnson, 1758
ADVERTISING
Promise-large promise- is the soul of an advertisement
Samuel Johnson, 1758
INTRODUCTION
1. Discuss the following questions.
How do you react to advertisements on television?
Do you enjoy watching them?
Do you change channel?
Do you do something else while the adverts are on?
Can you think of a current TV advertisement which has particularly impressed you, perhaps because it
is funny or shocking in some way? What kind of person do you think this advertisement is appealing
to?
What do you think of advertising being subject to strict regulations? Should it be so?
2. Say whether the following statements are true or false. T F
Advertising gives people information about a product or a service.
Slogans are always connected with an ad.
Newspapers, magazines and the Internet belong to the group of print media.
Only a small part of a newspaper is made up of ads.
You can find newspaper ads only in one section of the paper.
Magazines have better paper and a better printing quality than newspapers.
Mail order companies are companies that send leaflets to people.
Local advertisers put a lot of their advertising on the radio.
Electronic billboards are the most expensive kind of outdoor advertising
Sometimes certain products appear on TV shows.
A spam is an email that a person hasn’t asked for.
Market researchers make the designs for ads.
Tobacco advertising is allowed in America but not in Europe.
Advertising goes back to ancient Greece
The invention of the printing press made advertising cheaper.
The first advertising agencies came up in America in the 1950s.
One of the advantages of the advertising industry is that it creates new jobs.
Children are often the main target of advertisers.
3. Answer the following questions:
a. What does advertising do?
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b. Name a few things that ads use to make their product well known?
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c. What are the advantages of radio ads?
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d. What are electronic billboards?
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e. What is the first thing that advertising agencies do before they produce an ad?
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f. How do governments protect consumers from advertising?
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g. How far does advertising go back in history?
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h. When did mass advertising start?
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I. How did the invention of radio and television change advertising?
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j. Are there any bad sides of advertising? Name some!
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READING 1
1. Read this text and summarize the basic information about advertising.
Advertising is a form of communication used to encourage
BOSTON, 1704—The Boston
or persuade an audience ( viewers, readers or listeners, sometimes
Newsletter was the first American
a specific group of people ) to continue or to take new actions.
newspaper to carry advertising.
Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior
The first Newsletter ad offered a
with respect to a commercial offering, although political and
reward for the capture of a thief and
ideological advertising is also common. The purpose of
the return of the stolen goods.
advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that
a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are The early ads were similar to
usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional today’s classified ads.
media, including mass media such as newspapers, magazines, Newspaper advertising soon
television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or became so popular that some papers
direct mail; or new media such as blogs and websites and text gave the entire front page to it.
messages. On Oct. 30, 1760, the New York
Gazette ran 15 ads in three columns
to fill the front page.
Volney B. Palmer opened the first U.S. advertising agency in Philadelphia in 1841. Even if Palmer was
a visionary, he could never have anticipated the billions of dollars the U.S. advertisers spend each year. You
may not realize it, but you are exposed to thousands of ads a day. By age
classified ad 18, chances are you will have seen more than 350,000 commercials. Jean
an inexpensive, brief Kilbourne, an internationally known media critic, describes the power of
advertisement placed by ads:” They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love
individuals or businesses, and sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who
classified by subject, and we should be. Sometimes they sell addiction.” Kilbourne may be right.
collected in one place in the According to the Centre of Media Literacy, students can list more brands
newspaper of beer than names of U.S. presidents.
display ad If we speak about types of advertising, virtually any medium can be
advertisements with photos or used for it. Commercial advertising media can include wall paintings,
billboards, street furniture components, printed flyers, rack cards, radio,
images as well as headlines in
cinema and television ads, web banners, mobile telephone screens,
large type. These appear in
shopping carts, skywriting, bus stop benches, human billboards,
various sizes and shapes
throughout the paper magazines, newspapers, town cries, sides of buses, banners attached to or
side of airplanes, in-flight advertisements on seatback tray tables or
public service ads overhead storage bins, taxicab doors, posters, and the backs of event tickets
Similar to other ads or and supermarket receipts. Any place an identified sponsor pays to deliver
commercials except they do not their message through a medium is advertising.
sell products or services for
money. Support for ads comes Interesting facts about Advertising
from non-profit organizations 1. Ice cubes in beverage LONDON, 1614—Decorative
such as the American Cancer advertisements are typically made of signs attached to buildings or
Society or the Red Cross. acrylic so they won't melt under hot swinging over doorways
photography lights or move around. identified local inns and
Bubbles are made by adding detergent and water is added so light taverns. These signs were the
filter through better. forerunners of modern
2. A York University study revealed that U.S. pharmaceutical billboards. Because few people
companies spend twice as much on advertising as they do on could read, the shopkeepers
research. created logos, or artwork that
3. More than $ 500 billion a year is spent on advertising worldwide. represented the names of their
4. By the time a person in the United States is 65 years old, he would establishments: The Three
have seen an estimated two million television commercials. Squirrels, The Ape, A Hole in
5. Over $15 billion a year is spent on advertisements directed toward the Wall, Man in the Moon, a
children in the USA. Hog In Armour and so on.
6. The first advertisement widely believed to be the first to feature a In 1614, England passed the
homosexual couple aired in 1994 when an IKEA ad featured two first laws regulating
male companions shopping together for furniture. advertising. One law
7. The average child in America watches over 40,000 television prohibited signs from
commercials in a year, or over 100 a day projecting more than eight feet
8. The very first U.S. paid advertisement was a 1704 ad in the Boston out from a building. Another
News Letter which advertised an estate in Long Island. said signs must be high
9. In 2008, approximately $2.6 billion was spent on political enough to allow a man
advertising in the USA, the largest ever during a presidential wearing armor and riding a
campaign. Obama's campaign spent $70 million on ads for the horse to pass beneath them.
primary and $240 million for the general election. McCain’s
campaign spent $10 million for the primary and $126 million for the
general election.
10. In 2006, Microsoft spent over $11.5 billion on advertising. That same year, Coca-Cola spent $2.5 billion,
Yahoo spent $1.3 billion and eBay spent $871 million.
11. The first American magazine advertisement appeared in Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine in 1742.
12. Life was the first magazine to make $100 million per year in advertising.
13. In 1938, radio surpassed magazines in generating advertisement profits.
14. The largest group of advertisers is food marketers.
15. Researchers report that women's magazines have 10.5 times more ads and articles promoting weight loss
than men's magazines do and over 75 ٪ of women's magazine covers include at least one article title about
how to change a woman's body by diet, exercise or cosmetic surgery.
16. Using sex to sell a product is not new. Advertisers have used sex to sell products since the early days of
modern advertising. For example, pictures of naked women were placed in tobacco ads in the 1800s.
17. The famous Marlboro Man ads began in 1955. The Marlboro Man actually included a variety of masculine
figures such as athletes, gunsmiths and captains, but the rugged cowboy image proved the most
marketable. Three men who appeared in the advertisements later died of lung cancer, earning the brand
the nickname “Cowboy Killer”.
2. Match the words with their definitions:
SPEAKING
1. Which of the above marketing techniques might influence you to buy the product?
2. Are there any products that you have bought recently because of the adverts? In spite of the
adverts?
3. Have you bought something recently which wasn't as good as the advertisement made you think?
4. Are there any adverts which make you not want to ever buy the product? Why do they have this
effect on you?
5. How successful do you think the following forms of advertising are?
- leaflets/brochures in your letter-box
- junk e-mails
- sports sponsorship
VOCABULARY
Talking about advertising
a. Use these words to complete the sentences:
influence publicity agency hype logo
brand sponsor slogan competitors
1. My sister has just got a job working for an advertising ……. in London.
2. Most companies spend a lot of money on advertising. It is the only way to they can stay ahead of
their ………
3. Nike is going to …….. the next World Cup. All the players will have to wear the Nike ……… on their
shirts.
4. Advertisers like to think of a clever …….. to make people remember their product. For example, Coca-
Cola's is It is the real thing.
5. Did you see the new film at the weekend? What was it like? Well, considering all the………, I thought it
was a bit disappointing.
6. Do people buy things just because they have seen them advertised on TV? Of course they do! Advertising
has a huge …….. on all the choices we make.
7. Did you see Jodie Foster on that chat show last night? She was really good. She has been on all the shows
this week. It is just …….. for her new film.
8. What …….. of cigarette do you smoke?
b. Complete the text with the correct form of a verb from the list.
to become to expand to export to import
to launch to market to take over
A friend of mine, Anne, was lucky enough to inherit a farm when she left university and so she decided
to set up her own organic food business. The company ……… its products under the name Bioplus and one of
the most successful products it makes is muesli. Not all of the ingredients come from the farm, as Anne …………
the nuts and dried fruit from South America. These she mixes with her own cereal products to make the muesli.
Nationally, her muesli sells well, but she also …….. to Northern European countries like Norway and Sweden.
The company is …………… rapidly and Anne is always looking for new employees. Right now she is
preparing to …………. a new cereal bar the company has been testing. Anne is very realistic and she knows she
will never ………….. the market leader in the field, but neither does she want one of the big cereal giants like
Kelloggs and Nestle to ………… her company.
c. Complete the sentences with the correct form of make or do.
1. A company always does extensive market research before it launches a new product.
2. If a company………..a loss, the staff often face job cuts.
3. Many countries started…………….business with China when the trade sanctions were lifted.
4. The Managing Director ……………..the decision to close the factory yesterday.
5. My company is going to………….30 people redundant after Christmas.
6. The assistant manager is …………………the manager's job while he is away on holiday.
7. It is difficult to ……………….money out of producing CVs these days.
8. If we …………………a profit again next year, the manager may think of opening another office.
d. Sentence race. Try to complete all the sentences in two minutes.
1.The customer took the shoes back to the store to…………….
2. Even though I was really late, my boss………….
3. She applied for a job with a company in London so that…………
4. He got promoted to branch manager despite………….
5. He left the company he used to work for in order to….
6. Although Jim was the hardest worker in the company…
7. In spite of a huge marketing campaign, …………..
8. I went to our head office in New York for…………….
9. I think the advertising of cigarettes and alcohol should be banned, so as not to………..
10. Most of the staff don't like the new manager, although……
e. Complete the following definitions using the terms in the box.
endorsement information sheet save-the-date press kit press release product placement
1. A statement made by a famous or important person saying that he/she uses and likes a particular product,
alternatively, any public appearance using the product; for example a celebrity wearing the product:
endorsement
2. A message sent before a formal invitation is ready which tells people not to make other arrangements for
the date of a planned event: _______________
3. A written statement which gives information to be broadcast or published: ___________
4. A type of advertising where a film pays to have one of its products appear in a film or TV programme:
__________________
5. A pre-packaged set of promotional materials distributed to members of media for promotional use:
________________
6. A piece of paper giving details about an item, usually a product: _____________
f. Study the DIFFERENT FORMS OF ADVERTISING and say which you think are most effective.
g. Some of the all the time popular advertising slogans, which people might remember for eternity, are:
Nokia - Connecting People
Kit Kat – Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat
Nike – Just Do It
McDonald's - I'm lovin'it
Study them and find out the stories behind these famous slogans.
h. Look at the slogans from the previous exercise again and answer the following questions.
a. Which slogans contain no nouns?
b. Which types of words are used to communicate most of the meaning instead?
i. In advertising slogans, adjectives and verbs are generally used much more frequently than nouns. What
do you think are the most common adjectives and verbs used in advertising? Make a list of at least
five.
j. Now study the list below and compare your answers. Are there any surprising words on the list? Are
there any words that are not in your list?
Advertising has changed a lot of the decades, but certain words are as powerful today as they were so many
years ago. In fact, the psychology department at Yale University studied many words in the English language
and discovered the following to be the most powerful, especially when trying to sell or persuade. Here then are
the 10 words you should always consider using in your campaigns.
The Advertising Power Words List, in Ascending Order:
10: NEW
9: SAVE
8: SAFETY (or SAFE)
7: PROVEN
6: LOVE.
5: DISCOVER
4. GUARANTEE.
3. HEALTH
2. RESULTS.
1. YOU.
Top 20 adjectives and verbs in advertising:
Adjectives Verbs
1. new 1. make
2. good/better/best 2. get
3. free 3. give
4. fresh 4. have
5. delicious 5. see
6. full 6. buy
7. sure 7. come
8. clear 8. go
9. wonderful 9. know
10. special 10. keep
11. crisp 11. look
12. fine 12. need
13. big 13. love
14. great 14. use
15. real 15. feel
16. easy 16. like
17. bright 17. choose
18. extra 18. take
19. safe 19. start
20. rich 20. taste
k. Try to complete the following advertising slogans using the list of words from exercise. There may be
more than one possible answer. Then identify what language devices are used in each slogan.
a. The Music We All Love. ( radio station)- personal pronoun
b. Gillette- the best a Man Can……
c. Dreams are……….Realities are………. ( Citi Bank)
d. The …….bed on earth is not on earth. (Iberia Airline)
e. …………..a step in your career. ( SDA Bocconi University)
f. You and us. Because global capabilities really are a …………..deal. ( UBS Investment Bank)
CRITICAL WRITING
Choose one of the quotes below. Do you agree or disagree with it? Write a 4 or 5 paragraph essay using
specific reasons and examples to support your answers.
Advertising is legalized lying. H.G.Wells
“Ads sell a great deal more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth.”
Brene Brown
Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing
but nobody else does.”
Steuart Henderson Britt, Marketing Management and Administrative Action
Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't
need. Will Rogers
CREATING AN AD
A. In groups, discuss the following questions:
1. Do you often see/read ads in English? Do you understand them? Explain why/why not.
2. Have you ever produced an ad in your own language or in English?
3. What do you think of the standard of ads in your country? How could they be improved?
4. Have ads changed in the past few years in general? Explain your answer.
B. Think of a product you like (an MP3 player, a computer…). Imagine you are going to advertise it.
Decide what three adjectives and verbs you would use to describe it. Use pictures, slogans and texts
to make it as interesting as possible
The following points should be included:
1. what is good about the product
2. why people should buy it
3. why it is better than a different product
4. the price
C. In groups, choose one of the products that has been advertised and write a print ad for it. Use some of
the language devices you have studied in this section to help you.