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B) Now read the text and complete the table with further and relevant information on the topic.






A) Before reading the text “Advertising: pros and cons”, try to provide a suitable definition of this concept and then fill in the table with what you’d consider as advantages and disadvantages of this multibillion dollar industry.

 
 

 

 


B) Now read the text and complete the table with further and relevant information on the topic.

 

I t hink Will Rogers cleverly sums up the aims of advertising… It is definitely an effective way of selling new products and of brainwashing us into unnecessary spending. However, others disagree and point out many advantages of these subtle and persuasive media messages.


One of the main arguments for advertising is that it generates wealth for a country. That is to say, taxes paid on goods sold help governments to pay for essential services such as education and health care. Moreover, the number of jobs created for producing, marketing and servicing these goods helps to reduce the unemployment problem, which is also a great advantage for a country's economy. What is more, advertising raises money for a huge number of sporting events and artistic performances which would otherwise not be held. Without sponsorship from companies who advertise their products, these events would disappear due to lack of founding. In other words, although consumerism is promoted through advertising, it is beneficial to both the consumer and society.

 

On the other hand, advertisements can cause people to be dissatisfied with what they already have, and make them want more. Being exposed again and again to products which one cannot afford produces frustration and dissatisfaction. Furthermore, not all parents are in a position to afford the goods which their children see advertised and want to possess. This often leads to feelings of inadequacy, especially among the less well-off. In addition to this, advertising causes people to place too much importance on material goods. The fact that people are prepared to work long hours, or even turn to crime in order to gain the goods on offer, shows that advertising persuades people to go to great lengths to keep the same standard of living as those they see around them. It is a fact, though, that neither crime, not the stress caused by overwork, can benefit society.

 

Whether the contemporary debate stresses the pros or the cons of advertising, I really think there’s one particular aspect which is in need of serious analysis and change: the portrayal of women. Scientific studies and casual viewing yield the same conclusion: women are shown almost exclusively as housewives or sex objects. The housewife, pathologically obsessed by cleanliness, debates the virtues of cleaning products with herself and feels guilty for not being a better wife and mother. The sex object is a shell and conventional beauty is her only attribute. She has no wrinkles, no scars and no blemishes - indeed, she has no pores. She is thin, generally tall and long-legged. Women are constantly exhorted to emulate this ideal, to feel ashamed and guilty if they fail, and to feel that their desirability and lovability are contingent upon physical perfection.

 

Society has always valued beauty. However, the commonly accepted beauty images are artificial and their impossible standards can only be achieved artificially. Nevertheless, fashion magazines insist on publishing photographs that portray this artificial and unreal beauty ideal and television programs that promote plastic surgery, such as “Extreme Makeover” (on ABC) or “Nip/ Tuck” (on FOX) always show people that truly believe beauty is something that comes from without. However, if we pay attention to “Nip/Tuck”, we soon realize that perfection is a lie. As the lyrics go:

 
 

 

 


Sources: www.medialit.org

https://articles.famouswhy.com

 


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