IELTS Speaking Section Part 1 - Talking about Familiar Topics
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How businesses advertise their products in your country?
Businesses are now using a variety of media to promote their products. In the past, the most popular ones were TV advertisement and printed advertisement. But recently, there has a been a shifting towards digital ads, like the ones that we see on the internet, youtube, and social media. Products and services used to be promoted by celebrities that appear on TV but now, there are more and more social media influencers doing promotion on their platform. Some of them even become a brand ambassador of branded products like bags, cosmetics, and clothing
Why do you think there are so many advertisements now?
The most obvious reason why ads are ubiquitous these days is the competition. In the past, there were not so many companies in my country, so there wasn't much competition between companies. But now, there are a lot of new products sold in the market. It's good for the people though, in a way that they have a lot more options when it comes to buying the stuff they need. As for the companies, competition means that they have to not only persuade the buyers, but also to convince them that their products are better.
Can you mention some places where advertisements can be found?
Advertisement can be found all over the place. When we are browsing the internet, we often see online ads appearing on the website. In fact, I see that some businesses are still using conventional advertising strategy like distributing flyer on the street.
How do you feel about advertisement?
Most of the time, I see advertisement quite positively. But, it is inevitable that some advertisements are just extremely annoying. For example, I'm always blinded by the light emitted from billboards that are located near a T-junction. People have to stop in the red light, and these billboards look extremely bright at night. It is so bright that I often have to cover my face with my palm if I have to stop near a billboard for quite a long time.
Online advertisement can also be annoying at times. Well, banner ads are fine with me. Banner ads are actually a good way of finding the products and services that I need. But I'm really not okay with pop up ads. Pop up ads really ruin user's experience on a website, since they often appear in places where links are closely put together, forcing us to click on them. If we click close or x sign, the ads are still directing us to another page, distracting us from our main objective of visiting a website.
Do you think that advertisement is an effective way of promoting products and services?
Yes I do. Advertisement is a way of reaching out to the prospective buyers. Without advertisement, people will not know why they want to buy certain product but not the others. These days, advertisement is not merely persuasive, but also informative. It not only persuades the people to buy things, but also explain why they have to do so.
Some advertisement even explains the vision of a company, convincing the audience that their products are the manifestation of their values. For example, some food and beverage companies are promoting healthy lifestyle while promoting their healthy food products. So, the advertisement not only serves as a way of boosting their sales, but also a way of motivating the public to eat healthy food and live a healthy life.
Which one do you think is more effective? TV advertisement or online advertisement?
IELTS Speaking Section Part 2 - Self-Presentation
Favorite Advertisement
Describe an advertisement that you like
You should say:
What advertisement is it?
What product/service it advertises?
Where you first saw it?
Explain why you like that advertisement
What advertisement is it?
One advertisement that really impresses me was a commercial called "giving". It was about a man who sold veggie soup in a market. One day, he saw a boy who was beaten by a woman. Apparently, the boy had stolen some painkillers from the drugstore, and was caught by the owner. The man who sold veggie soup asked him why he stole the painkillers, and found out that the boy was trying to help his sick mother. The man who sold veggie soup then paid for the painkillers he had stolen, and even gave him a bowl of veggie soup. Thirty years later, the man who sold veggie soup was seriously ill. He had to be hospitalized. His daughter couldn't pay the medical expenses, so she sold the food stall. One morning, the daughter woke up beside her father, who was still unconscious. She saw the medical bill beside her, and it turned out that someone had paid for it. Below the medical bill, there was a note from the doctor who treated her father. It said "the medical bill was already paid off thirty years ago, with some painkillers and a bowl of veggie soup". Apparently, the boy whom the veggie soup vendor was helping had grown up being a doctor. When he saw the man fell ill, he decided to help the man like the way he helped him thirty years ago.
What product/service it advertises?
If I'm not mistaken, it was a commercial of a Thai phone company called True Move.
Where you first saw it?
I first saw this commercial on youtube, as it appeared on my recommended videos.
Explain why you like that advertisement
I like this commercial because it has a story, a story that makes me reflect on humanity. At first, I didn't even realize it was a commercial. The story was so touching that I even thought it was a drama movie. I am really amazed by how the advertiser really put an effort to not only advertise their product, but also inspire those who watch the commercial. I was also amazed by the director who created such a great commercial.
IELTS Speaking Section Part 3 - Discussion
Advertisement and Consumerism
Do you think advertisement influence what people buy?
Of course, it does. Making a good product is just not enough, especially when there's a lot of competitors. Companies use creative commercials to attract people's attention, a jargon that is hard to forget, and even use celebrities to form a good impression of the product.
Do advertisement gives a valid information or do they just persuade people to buy things they don't need?
I have seen advertisement of various products and services, and they seem pretty genuine. I think advertisements that appear on mainstream media like newspaper and television are mostly genuine, because these media have a very strict rule of what products should or should not be advertised. In contrary, online advertisement can sometimes be fraudulent, because there's no clear regulation just yet. I have seen a lot of people become a victim of online scam, so I suppose advertisement can be misleading sometimes.
Do you think there should be control on advertising?
Of course. For example, cigarette advertisement is strictly regulated in my country. Cigarette factories can still advertise their product, but they are not allowed to depict cigarette in the advertisement. In the case of TV commercials, cigarette commercials can only be aired after 10 PM. Cigarette factories also have to include a warning for the audience, explaining that smoking could be detrimental to their health, giving detailed information of what disease can be caused by smoking.
Do you think that cigarettes advertisement should be allowed?
Yes, I think they should be allowed. But, the promotion has to be strictly regulated. Recently, there is a debate about the sponsorship of cigarette factories in sports competition. In my country, famous cigarette brands often give sponsorship to young and talented athletes. Some people are concerned because the athletes wear jersey with cigarette brand on it, fearing that such display will encourage people to smoke. There are also some people who argue that this is not a problem, because cigarette factories are actually not advertising in the sporting events per se. They have a separate organization for such sponsorship, the one whose focus is to support athletes. After the controversy arose, athletes no longer have sponsors, which is a bad, considering their contribution to the nation in international sporting events.
Can you mention an example of a false advertising?
One of the false advertisings that I often see is height pills advertisement. I don't think that the supplement actually works. Once someone reaches certain age, they just stop growing, and there's nothing they can do about it. But, people are generally insecure about their height, especially men, as they consider height as the most important factor for being successful in career and dating. Scammers like to use their insecurity and offer a counterfeit or illegal product, knowing that some people will easily fall for it. Besides fake height pills, I have seen fake skin whitening ads, weight loss ads, facial cream ads, and other online fake ads. I think people should be more careful when buying cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and become more selective when buying things on the internet.
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