Task 2 Essay

Hi,

Would you please have a look at the following essay?

Some people say that advertising encourages us to buy things we do not really need. Others say that advertisements tell us about new products that may improve our lives. Which viewpoint do you agree with?

It is arguably no exaggeration to say that we are living in the age of advertisements whereby a plethora of them in diverse forms can profoundly influence our decisions. Although advertising could be indispensable for publicizing newly-produced items, which may make our lives better, it seems that this medium is more likely to entice viewers to purchase unnecessary products.

To start with, advertising companies primarily try to associate a product or brand with a particular lifestyle. Axiomatically, people who identify with that lifestyle will feel attracted to those products without taking into consideration whether or not they need such products. In other words, they may buy many unnecessary products to avoid social ostracism. Take Amazon e-book reader, as an example, whose adverts persuasively picture scenes of doctors and businessmen using that gadget.

Furthermore, using provocative imagery and slogan, companies have also tried to manipulate people into buying their goods. For this end, cosmetics manufactures, for instance, deploy hourglass figures with lustrous lips and hair holding shampoo or soap to seduce the audience. Would every customer who uses that shampoo or soap really look like that attractive figure? By the same token, luxury perfumes made by Chanel and other firms have tried to create brand recognition via sexually suggestive phrases shown in billboards.

That said, it should also be admitted that without promotion, some products which are of great value and real quality would not be introduced to the public as deserved. An illustration of that is health related products, such as vitamins and supplements whose intake could strengthen the immune system. The producers of such products could really forge ahead provided that their information is disseminated to the largest population; otherwise, they would have to either lower the quality of their products or change their business whatsoever.

Overall, it cannot be denied that most advertisements we face nowadays are just there to seduce prospective customers into making unnecessary purchases or open new markets for their new products, though advertisements could have more effective applications, as put in the above.