Lesson 3

Task 1. Make the difference between the following words.

Which word?

Advertising vs. Advertisement

[`ædvətaızıŋ] [əd`və:tısmənt]

Advertising is an uncountable noun and refers to the activity of telling customers about products and services, or the materials that companies use in general to do this, such as notices in magazines or newspapers: They do a lot of advertising on television. Advertisement is a countable noun. It refers to a particular piece of advertising, such as a notice or short film / movie about a particular product. In more informal language the words ad (BrE and AmE) and advert (BrE) are used: I am replying to your advertisement in the Guardian. I am replying to your advertising.

Task 2. Practice reading the following words.

advertising [`ædvətaızıŋ] / [`ædvərtaızıŋ] billiards [`bıljədz] / [`bıljərdz] brevity [`brevəti] comfort [`kAmpfət] / [`kAmpfərt] de­scriptive [dı`skrıptıv] digni­fied [`dıgnıfaıd] doubt [daut] entity [`entəti] expert [`ekspə:t] extent [ık`stent] function [`fAŋk∫ən] heard [hə:d] industry [`ındəstri] likened [`laıkənd]

lively [`laıvli] luxury [`lAk∫əri] / [`lAgჳəri] megaphone [`megəfəun] to measure [`meჳə] / [`meჳər] to per­suade [pə`sweıd] / [pər`sweıd] picturesque [ֽpıkt∫ə`resk] potential [pə`tent∫əl] punctuation [ֽpAŋkt∫u`eı∫ən] purely [`pjuəli] / [`pjurli] purpose [`pə:pəs] scientific [ֽsaıən`tıfık] throughout [θru`aut] urban [`ə:bən]

Task 3. Read the text.

Advertising

There is no doubt that we live in an overcommunicated society. Advertising as a communication function was born thousands of years ago. These days it is increasingly invading public spaces. According to most experts the average citizen of an urban centre today is exposed to over 500 commercial messages a day. Some give even higher figures.

Advertising is defined as a paid, non-personal sales communication, directed at a large number of potential buyers. Throughout history, the purpose of advertising – to inform and per­suade – has not changed.

The two basic types of advertising are: product and institutional. Product advertising involves selling a good or service. Institutional advertising involves promoting a concept, idea, or philosophy, or the goodwill of an industry, company, organization, or government entity.

With so many products from which we can choose (over 10,000 in the average supermarket), companies must often shout to be heard, and advertising is their megaphone.

The fact is, to do its job, advertising must speak to people. It must be understandable and readable. Advertising research shows that people re­spond better to a down-to-earth, conversational tone than to a more digni­fied, formal one. Therefore, good copywriters develop a style that is de­scriptive, colorful, and even picturesque as well as warm, human, and personal. Because of the need for brevity, they try to use words that are simple, lively, and full of personality and to use punctuation to build a conversational tone rather than to construct purely grammatical sentences.

Advertisers like language that suggests:

• their product is of especially high quality;

• value for money;

• luxury and comfort;

• scientific backing for their product;

• their products make us more attractive.

The economic effect of advertising can be likened to the opening “break” shot in pool or billiards. The moment a company begins to advertise, a chain reaction of economic events takes place. Usually the extent of this chain reaction is very difficult to measure: but as in billiards, its scope is certainly related to the force of the shot.