S05 - 6 Advertising

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Real Exam English podcast, this episode is about advertising. One of my students just did a C1 exam this month and had to do a writing about advertising so it’s definitely a hot topic to cover. Before we start, one thing to make note of is the pronunciation -  so you have advertising, then in the UK you have advertisement and in the US you have advertisement. This is often shortened to adverts, or even better, to ads, which is much easier, right?!

Ok, in this episode we have loads of nice vocabulary, including some colloquial expressions from the US, the UK and Australia. We also look at how to make your speech more cohesive and we focus on different ways to use the verb do.

As usual if you would like to read exactly what the speakers say then you purchase the transcripts over on the podcast section of webpage, realexamenglish.com

Ok, question time, let’s go:

Is it more enjoyable to watch a TV program with advertising breaks or without them?

Without, because we always skip the adverts when there's a program with adverts. When I when…I record it so we can skip it or we go out of the room when the adverts on and make a cup of tea or whatever.

Do you think more people are likely to buy a product if a celebrity recommends it?

Generally, society, yes. Me no, I ignore celebrities and I can't stand them, so I avoid anything that is endorsed by a celebrity.

Short and sweet answers there to start off, maybe a little too short for a C1 or C2 exam, you could make them a bit longer to show off what English you know. She did have one bit of key vocabulary and that was to be endorsed by a celebrity. When a celebrity endorses a product they publicly declare their approval of that product. Like that new tennis racket has been endorsed by the tennis champion, so it must be good. The noun from endorse then is endorsement. For example, celebrities make a lot of money nowadays from product endorsements. 

In your country, which types of products are advertised the most? Why do you think that is? 

In Australia there's so much gambling ads. Actually, I've noticed this especially recently. There's a gambling ad on every little thing and I don't know if it's just targeted to me, it's my targeted advertising. But actually I see it on TV as well so it can't just be just be me. But there are gambling ads everywhere, and I think that's because Australians love a punt. We love to gamble, myself included. It is also a pretty big issue because people get addicted, people lose their livelihoods will would not lose their livelihoods, but lose all their money, lose their houses, lose their families from gambling. So there is an issue there, there and there are also calls to ban gambling ads. But definitely yeah, I would say gambling is the thing that's advertised the most.

Some people say advertising encourages us to buy things we don't really need. What do you think? 

I think that's the whole point of advertising. But I kind of like it. I think it does encourage us to buy things that we don't need, but that's, you know, that's the joy of life, doing the things you don't need or owning the things you don't need. Some people have an issue with targeted ads and I’m like please no, give me ads that are relevant to me. I want to buy things that I want. I don't wanna be advertised like nappies. I don't have a baby. I wanna be advertised an Xbox game because I like to play Xbox. So yeah, I do think it's a bit intrusive though. I hate seeing ads everywhere. There's a million ads, ads on Amazon Prime now on, like, you're paying for that subscription. Why would there be ads there? So that is my problem with advertising that everywhere. But I don't mind. I'm happy if they're relevant to me rather than completely irrelevant, you know.

Alright, interesting answers from Australia there. As he says, they love gambling there, which is when you bet money on something, usually a sport or horse racing. He also mentioned Australians love a punt, again which means they love gambling. However, because of problems with people getting addicted to it, there are calls to ban gambling, meaning there are demands to ban it. Another example would be, there are calls to renovate the school, or there are calls to increase the number of technology classes at school. That’s a useful one for writing an essay actually. 

There was some more advertising vocabulary too, with targeted advertising. Although then he said it’s actually on TV too so it can’t just be me. This is a great example of when to use can’t when you are making a deduction about something, like you are just figuring it out, it can’t just be me. Another illustration is Mary can’t be the killer; she was here with me all night. Or it can’t have rained last night, the ground is dry.

We also had some nice language chunks in the second answer. He said buying things we don’t need is the whole point of advertising, emphasizing that’s the purpose of it, especially when someone is denying that. Like, hey if you have another coffee you’ll be awake all night. That’s the whole point of it! I gotta study for my exam tomorrow! He also claimed buying things we don’t need is one of the joys of life. Like, getting into bed with fresh, clean bed sheets is one of the joys of life. Alright, mastering these little fixed expressions will really make you sound much better, so it’s a good idea to make yourself a list of all of these expressions that you come across.

Lastly, he said some people have an issue with targeted ads but I’m like please no, give me ads that are relevant to me. This use of I’m like to state what you are thinking is quite common in the UK and in Australia too. For instance, my wife started complaining about the dirty dishes, and I’m like here we go again. Or the boss suggested we invest in a new cryptocurrency, and I’m like this is gonna end badly. 

Do you think more people are likely to buy a product if a celebrity recommends it?

Yes. I think they are. But I also think that my definition of celebrity has changed as well, so I'd consider, I think nowadays people would buy from an influencer more than that than just the celebrity and that's basically their job, isn't it, to influence you. Normal celebrities, yeah, I suppose they do have an impact on what we buy and what we, you follow. I don't know, I'm really out of touch with celebrities. But what was it? David Beckham and his underpants. You know, all the boys had them. So you know, you do, you do get influenced - if someone famous has that, you want it too.

Should firms be allowed to advertise to children?

I'm going to say no. It’s…..it gets you into a very sticky situation, doesn't it? As a parent, when you're, when everything is like brightly colored and attractive and your kid wants everything in the shop, it really does annoy me. And I try to not buy things that are specifically aimed at my kids, just because they're aimed at them and be a bit more discerning with what we choose. So I do think that companies shouldn't advertise directly to children. You know when, when at, I don't know, 9:00 in the morning on TV, when the kids are at home on a Saturday, all the ads are about all of the ads are toys and then you just disappoint your kids when you don't buy them all these things, don't you?

You sure do; I feel her pain! I like her use of do. She used it a few times to add emphasis, I suppose they do have an impact, it really does annoy me, I do think companies shouldn’t advertise to children. Secondly, she used this filler I don’t know, like she said when at, I don’t know, 9 in the morning and also I don’t know, I’m really out of touch with celebrities. I just did a training course from Cambridge yesterday and they said that using fillers like this is in exams is good as that is what native English speakers do. Other examples would be well, like, y’know, anyway, I mean. So don’t be afraid to use these words, at least not in a Cambridge exam, or in real life. Her last nice use of do was in her question tags, you disappoint the kids, don’t you and it gets you into a sticky situation, doesn’t it. Alright, we focused on question tags a few episodes back, these are great examples of how to use them well. 

This sticky situation that she refers to is a lovely idiom to describe a situation that is difficult to deal with. Like someone has asked you out on a date but you had promised to go on a date with someone else.

We also had some top vocabulary with: you have to be a bit more discerning with what you choose, meaning you are more careful about deciding what to choose. This is very often used when talking about buying something, like the discerning customer did a thorough check of the product before buying it. 

Lastly, super important advertising vocabulary these days, is influencer, who of course are these people paid to promote products on social media. 

Alright, time for the language break. This time we’re gonna look at reported speech. Ok, so this is where you report what somebody said, and you gotta change things like verb tenses, time references and pronouns. So I’ll give you a phrase like I am happy and you gotta change it to Trevor said he was happy.

Ok, I’ll give you 10 phrases that you have to change, let’s see how you go. In every case it will be Trevor said whatever ok…

I like pizza.

Trevor said he liked pizza

I was thinking about going.

Trevor said he had been thinking about going.

I can drive.

Trevor said he could drive.

I will swim this afternoon.

Trevor said he would swim that afternoon.

I have been in India.

Trevor said he had been in India.

I should study more Spanish.

Trevor said he should study more Spanish.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Trevor said he would see me the next day.

I used to play piano.

Trevor said he used to play piano.

What time is it?

Trevor asked 

Trevor asked what time it was?

You mustn’t cheat.

Trevor said I mustn’t cheat.

Alright, that’s all 10, it’s good to revise those every now and again, right? It’s the kind of thing you need to see every few months to keep it fresh! 

Alright, back to the questions:

Which types of products are advertised most and why do you think that is?

Well, nowadays fast food. Again, it's going back to flogging a dead horse, here. But it's just fast food, fast food, fast food. And it's all the time and I don't think there's anything we can do about it, but you're inundated with this fast food environment and I mean, this is another thing going back to how Spain has changed. When I came to Spain, you did not see fat people, especially youngsters, you never saw fat young people and the ones that you did see were not from Spain. Now obesity is rife. It’s…and I mean it, can only be, well again the sedentary lifestyle. But and….fast food…and I mean McDonald's and that sort of thing was not big when I came to Spain. So the advertising, I would say fast foods and banks, mortgages and loans.

Do you think alcohol and tobacco should be allowed to advertise?

Yes, uh, you see all these new strange laws that you can't put colourful packets on the cigarettes in some countries, you can't advertise the brands. In my opinion, I don't think this really influences. If someone wants to drink, they’re going to drink. Someone wants to smoke, they're going to smoke and often you see these types of things when there's more restrictions on them and they're…. it's forbidden fruit. So it's counterproductive because you're making it more appealing. So, ooh, what's this thing that's not allowed to be advertised? Well, I want to try that. You know, if you just, I don't know, it's difficult, but I don't think these silly restrictions help at all. 

Alright, some strong views there! He started the first answer with this great idiom, flogging a dead horse. To flog is kind of like to hit so if you are flogging a dead horse then it isn’t going to move, no matter how much you hit it, so you use this idiom when keep on talking about something that has already been discussed or decided and no matter how much you talk about it the situation isn’t going to change. 

There were two other really useful words in this first answer. The first was inundated. If you are inundated with fast food advertising then you get lots and lots of it. This word inundated can also be used for an area flooding with water, an inundation. So in this case you are flooded with fast food advertising! Really handy that. You could also use it with work, I’ve been inundated with calls all morning or maybe organizing an event you could be inundated with requests for tickets or information.

The other handy one is rife. Obesity is rife, meaning it is very common, usually something negative that is common. Like racism is rife nowadays, or that school is rife with bullying.

In the second answer we had another top idiom, forbidden fruit. This one comes from the Bible actually and we use it to describe a situation where people want something even more when it is forbidden, forbidden fruit tastes sweeter. In the example we heard the speaker thought that by banning smoking advertising it would make people want to smoke more. Or as he said it was counterproductive, meaning it has the opposite effect to the one that you want. Like staying up all night studying can be counterproductive, you’d better off getting some sleep and feeling fresh the next day.

Do you prefer advertisements on TV and newspapers, on the radio, on the Internet or in the street?

I don't think I have a big preference for them, but if I did I would say I would prefer smart and funny advertisements that would be either video, so it would be either on YouTube or on television and I prefer the creative ones, ones that are because advertisements….filmed ones at least for me and and also in print, in magazines as well, can be very creative and very impact….They can impact you, you know. So I like that. Sometimes on YouTube I look up, you know, advertisement awards, the best advertisements of whatever 2024 and that's really entertaining. Yeah. And some of them are sad and some of them are funny, some of them impact. You know, I think advertising is a powerful medium. I don't know how it's changed now with…. I imagine it's still, it's just that it's branched out to other forms of it other than television, because you and I guess we grew up with television, right?

Right, we sure did. Ok, this answer is really interesting in the way that he avoids repetition, so let’s take a look at that.

He starts off with I don’t have a big preference for them, but if I did, I would say smart and funny. Alright so he just says if I did, instead of repeating the whole phrase if I did have a big preference for them, ok it isn’t necessary to repeat the whole thing, you can often just stop at the auxiliary verb. Like I can’t play guitar but if I could, I would join a band. 

Next, he says I prefer creative ones, ok so using ones instead of repeating advertisements. Then he says they can impact you, again they is replacing advertisements and then: so I like that, that in this case replacing  that they can impact you. 

Alright these are great examples of how to make your speech more cohesive, linking one sentence to the previous one using pronouns and reference words. This is also essential in writing. If you look at how they mark a C1 Cambridge writing for example, in order to get a maximum 5 marks for organization you need to use, and I quote “a variety of cohesive devices”. Ok, so on top of having nice connectors and well-organized text you gotta get some cohesion in there, using words like the ones we just looked at. 

Is it more enjoyable to watch a TV programme with advertising breaks or without them? 

So generally I would say without them. But actually, lately I quite enjoyed breaks because you can have a cuppa or have a wee and you can pause it and then you can fast forward it when you're ready. 

I'd agree it's a bit of a treat. Yeah, yeah, but only enough in moderation. 

In your country, which types of products are advertised most and why do you think that is?

I think food, technology, phones, things like that. 

We have a lot of gambling as well. 

We do have a lot of gambling. 

We used to have a lot of alcohol as well, but now it's gone to like 0%. 

Yeah, I don't think you're allowed. I don't think we're allowed to do it. I think it's promoting binge drinking, isn't it? 

Sports. 

Yeah. Sports, gambling and fast foods mainly. I think the main three big ones, 

I would agree. 

And I suppose is all stuff you can get instantly, besides sports. 

I'm gonna get me some sports, gonna get some sports. 

I’m gonna get me some sports, hilarious. This expression, I’m gonna get me some whatever is used in a jokey way, it’s in the style of someone from the southern United States, someone unsophisticated and the grammar is deliberately incorrect. So if you watch any videos from the deep south of the US, they might say I’m gonna get me some chicken wings and beer or I’m gonna get me some guns and shoot that boy. 

Then from the other side of the Atlantic we also had two very British words, cuppa and wee. She said she likes ad breaks because you can have a cuppa and have a wee. A cuppa is a cup of tea. British people love drinking tea, if you visit someone’s house it’s very common for them to offer you a cuppa, fancy a cuppa? And if you drink too much tea, then you need to do a wee, which of course is to urinate and can be used as a verb, I need to wee, or a noun, I need a wee.

Another great word was a treat. It’s a bit of a treat. If something is a treat then it’s like a reward or enjoyable experience. Another example would be, I know you’ve been working so hard recently so I’ve booked us into a fancy hotel for the weekend as a treat. Or as a special treat, you can get whatever you want from the toyshop. This one is listed as a C2 word in the Cambridge dictionary so is a nice one to know. 

Alright guys, that treat of a word is where we are gonna leave it today. I hope you weren’t inundated with too much new vocabulary, but if you were, then get yourself a break, have a cuppa, maybe a wee and have a listen again when you feel like it. 

I’d love to hear your feedback, so you can leave a comment on Spotify or drop me a message on Instagram or send an email. 

Thanks very much for listening today. All the best!

Trevor