UNIT 8
ADVERTISEMENTS: THE PROS AND CONS
Read the passage.
The Case for Advertising
Money spent on advertising is money well spent. It assists a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable prices. It draws attention to new ideas and so helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase the demand for goods, it increases the number of workers needed to supply the goods and, therefore, provides employment. It helps to pay for many services. Without advertisements, you daily newspaper would cost a dollar or more, the price of your television license would need to be doubled, and travel by bus would cost more.
Perhaps most important of all, advertising helps to keep up the quality of the products and services you buy. No regular advertiser dare offer a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long; for the public has the good sense not to buy the poor quality article more than once. If I see an article advertised, it is the surest proof I know that the article does what is claimed for it, and that it is good value.
There is one more point I feel I ought to touch on. Recently, I heard a well-known television personality declare that he was against advertising because it persuades rather than informs. This is hair-splitting. Of course advertising seeks to persuade. If it only gave information, advertising would be so boring that no one would pay any attention. But perhaps that is what the well-known television personality wants.
I am prepared to make just one admission to the opponents of advertising. Not every advertisement is a good one. Some advertisements are silly. Some are pointless - though not very many. Pick up the nearest magazine or newspaper and count the advertisements that rally offend you. And then count the advertisements that, in some degree, interest you, or give you pleasure. And be honest!
The Case against Advertising
Most people say that they find advertisements useful for giving them information about the products which are available on the market. But advertisements do not only give information, they also try to influence our emotions.
The advertisers know that everyone tends to dream of having a better life. We dream of being better educated, more successful, wealthier, better looking, more adventurous, and so on. The advertisers try to make us believe that our dreams will come true if we buy their products. This is why advertisements for home cleaning products often try to convince ladies that they can become perfect wives and mothers only if they use those products. Advertisements aimed at men often include the picture of a pretty girl. Such advertisements are suggesting that a man will be more attractive to women if he owns a certain type of car, or watch, or if he dresses in a certain style.
The feelings which advertisements try to play on will differ according to the age groups for which the advertisements are intended. Advertisements for teenagers will emphasize that those products will make young people more attractive, more up to date, more socially successful, and more able to enjoy themselves, as well as more successful in their education and job prospects.
The problem with advertisements is that they imply that money can make our dreams come true. But this is obviously not so. We cannot buy personal; good looks, intelligence, good friendships or a happy family. A lot of advertisements are, therefore, a form of lying. They can also make people feel depressed and discontented with their ordinary lives, especially those people who have only a small amount of money to spend on luxuries.
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