Advertising and Advertisement

In the eyes of the business world and of many economists, advertising performs an indispensable function. It helps consumers to choose among competing products. Also, by spurring demand for products, it extends the possibilities of mass production and thus leads to the economies of scale and to lower consumer costs. Advertising plays a very important part in modern merchandising. The manufactures tell the public about their new products and the stores tell the public about what they have at what prices.

Advertisements can be seen in newspapers, magazines, and on television every day of week. Many more advertisements are sent to customers' homes.

Advertising companies are called agencies. Each agency sells a lot of different products. Here is how it happens. The first stage is marketing research. Marketing researchers get information in three ways: on the phone, in group discussions, from questionnaires. The agency then writes, films, records and photographs a campaign. This is a series of advertisements on TV, radio, in the newspapers and magazines.

This great business of merchandising employs millions of white-collar workers, from clerks in the stores to top executives in the big department stores and the advertising agencies. For most clerks the salaries are low, but they are among the highest for top executives.

In the business world advertising is sometimes depicted as "the engine of prosperity". From another perspective, however, advertising goes against important social values. It promotes self-indulgence and thus counters moral and religious teachings that urge selflessness. It creates false "needs" and encourages waste.

This inevitable tension between business values and other social values often spills over onto the political stage, with the institutions 220

of government struggling to resolve a point at issue. Should there be limits on the types of products that business people can advertise? Should advertisers be forced to mention the hazards as well as the attractions of products such as cigarettes? Should advertisers be required to substantiate their growing claims? Democratic political processes provide answers to such questions in continuing process of adjustment and change increasingly offering protection to the consumer against false or harmful advertising.

Pronunciation

A. Circle the word in each line which has a different vowel
sound. Listen to the teacher and check your answers.

1) demand clerk answer counter

2) competing agency waste scale

3) value false hazard attraction

B. Cross out the letters in the words which are not pronounced.
Listen to the teacher and check your answers:

campaign, advertisement, store, resolve, encourage.

Word Study

A. Find international words in the text and write them out. Learn
their correct pronunciation.

B. Give Russian equivalents to the following word combinations:

economies of scale; the engine of prosperity; from another perspective; to go against social values; to promote self-indulgence; to counter moral and religious teachings; to urge selflessness; to create false needs; to encourage waste; to spill over onto the political stage; to resolve a point at issue; to mention the hazards as well as the attractions; a continuous process of adjustment and change; to protect the consumer against false or harmful advertising.

С Match the words from A with their opposites from B.

 

A	В
employ, extend, counter, moral, prosperity, encourage, selflessness, inevitable, self-indulgence, promote	poverty, discourage, abstinence, hinder, preventable, agree, narrow, dismiss, selfishness, immoral

D. Match the words from A with their synonyms from B.