145. Do advertisements promote things we do not need or products that may
improve our lives?
Some people say that advertising encourages us to buy things we really do not need. Others say that
advertisements tell us about new products that may improve our lives. Which viewpoint do you agree
with? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
『分析』
倾向于同意后者
广告的好处：介绍新产品；降低报纸、杂志、电视节目的价格……
广告的不良影响(可大多情况下，那不是广告的错，而是制作者的责任，这些可以通过法制解决)
结论是，广告有很多好处，也有一些不足，可是没有广告却是不可以的。
『范文』
Over the last twenty years the amount of adverting we are subjected to in our daily lives has increased
dramatically. It has got to the point where one can hardly turn his/her head without seeing a wide array of media
images. I tend to agree the fact that advertisements more often than not persuade us into buying things that we do
not need.
Often it is difficult to discern what a product is from an advertisement. Advertisers prey on our basal emotions,
conjuring strong relationships between our primary drives and their product names or logos. A prime example of
this is perfume ads. In many of these types of advertisements there are women in compromising positions, but there
is no mention of the actual product for sale. These ads draw us in and make us think that we can be better and more
beautiful if we have the product.
In addition to being manipulative, advertisements also fill our environments and our consciousness. There is
no taboo venue for advertisements; they fill our televisions, radios, streets and elevators. Some advertisers have
even taken to placing images of their products in our urinals or on boxers' bodies. It is impossible to get away from
them. To illustrate this point, all one has to do is to pick up a popular magazine. While flipping through the pages,
one will most likely find that for every page of content there are at least two pages of advertisements. It should also
be noted that a significant portion of this so called "content" is actually advertising in disguise.
Finally, advertisements feed on our insecurities and often successfully convince us that we have no value to
society without their products. Advertising was originally designed to showcase products and inform us as to how
they can improve our lives. This harmless form has been replaced by a medium that viciously attacks our
self-confidence and self-esteem.
In conclusion, I posit that the main goal of advertisements is to convince us to buy things that we do not
need. As globalization continues to shrink the world, advertising coerces all countries to become consumer nations.
