TOEFL Independent Task: Advertising can tell you a lot about a country?

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Advertising can tell you a lot about a country. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Does advertising tell us a lot about a country? While many hold the view that it does not, I firmly believe that we can learn many things about a country via advertising.

Firstly, advertising reflects the economy of a country. As well all know, the posters and ads we see every day was introduced with the purpose of trying to sell products needed by the country’s citizens. Thus, by looking at the type of goods or services being promoted, we can tell a lot about the country’s economy. For example, if many high-tech facilities and traveling trips are often being advertised, we can assume the people are doing well with their money. On the other hand, if only essential and inexpensive commodities are being sold, we may guess that the economy is not so developed.

Secondly, we learn about how people in a country interact with each other through commercial ads on televisions. In fact, these ads involve a lot of conversations which are often made based on real ones. As a result, when audiences watch these ads on television, not only will they know about how people in the country talk to each other, but they also have some ideas of the situations that lead to communications. For instance, when my cousin An first arrived in Japan 5 years ago, she was nervous because she did not know to communicate with others. However, she managed to overcome the problem by constantly watching television commercials.

Lastly, advertising shows us what is considered appropriate amongst the people. Advertisements often come with meaningful messages about how to behave, as well as what to avoid doing, in certain social situations. They are really good sources of information for those who want to obtain knowledge about a country and its culture.

In conclusion, advertising gives us a lot of information about a country because it reflects the economic condition of the people. Moreover, advertising helps us understand the country’s culture by teaching us which things are appropriate and which things are not. It also shows us how people interact with each other in their society.

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