1

2nd year 2009

Teacher: María Cecilia Carattoli

ADVERTISING
SPEAKING

Discuss in groups.
a What products can you see in the photos? Write the words in the boxes.

b What products are often on TV ads and in magazines?

c What TV ads are popular with teenagers? Why?
d What kinds of TV ads do you like and why? Are they for children, teens, adults or
general public?
e Do you buy any of the products on TV ads or in magazines?
f What’s your favourite TV ad?
g What are the best TV ads at the moment? What are the worst TV ads?
h What characteristics has a good TV ad got?

Share your ideas with the class.

READING
1 Read the introduction of the article and underline the correct option.

i The article is about advertising / TV programmes.

j The writer is / isn’t in favour of advertising.
k The article is about advertising for teenagers / adults.

ADVERTISING STRATEGIES AND TEENAGERS.

Advertisers have a lot of different methods of persuasion to sell their products. They
create ads to persuade people to buy them. But I don’t think they always sell a product.
In my opinion, they really sell an image or a lifestyle. Here are some of the techniques
they use, especially in ads for teenagers.

Sounds
Soundsgood
good
 2

Advertisers use music and memorable sound effects. You listen to the music and you
think of the product. You can’t get the jingle out of your head. And what about the
volume?

Parents, children and grandparents. They are perfect and they all live in a great house.
The family is together and kids are always happy. This is the family everybody likes or
wants to have.

This is a very simple technique. They just repeat the name of the product or show the
product and the ad again and again.

They use a celebrity to show the quality of the product. Remember, this is only a
strategy. The majority of famous people do not use the products in their ads.

Here the message is: ‘Use our product and be cool and popular in a minute’. Is it the
magic of the product? Not really, it’s just an advertising strategy.

2 Read the rest of the article. Match titles and paragraphs.

Star power Repetition Cool! Sounds good Ideal families

3 Do you agree with the writer? Why?

4 Do you know any ads with these advertising techniques?

VOCABULARY
Complete with an underlined word from the article.

a ____________ are the people who make or create ads.

b A ___________ is a short song in an ad.
c __________ people are attractive. Everybody admires them.
d ____________ means how people live.
e ____________ is the activity of making ads.
f Companies make ads because they want to __________ products.

THINK CRITICALLY

Which opinion do you agree with? Tick .

 3

a I usually buy products on TV ads or magazines.

b I don’t pay attention to ads.
c I buy things I like or need, not because they are in an ad.
d I don’t need to buy a product to have a good image or be ‘cool’. That’s just an
advertising strategy.

WRITING
Write your answers to the discussion questions in SPEAKING.

HOMEWORK: Find a TV ad in a magazine or newspaper. Think about it: What

product is the ad selling? What’s the advertising technique of the ad? What’s the
hidden message of the ad?
Make a short oral presentation to share your ideas to the class.

A FINAL QUESTION FOR THE CLASS:

Which ad was the most original? Which ad was the most effective?