Provocative Adverts Have no Place in a Civilised Society- IELTS Writing Task 2

Provocative adverts have no place in a civilised society. Discuss.

Outline

Essay Type

Discussion

Introduction

Sentences 1&2 – Advertisements are designed for the purpose of attracting the attention of consumers and inducing them to buy the product by creating a need for it. To achieve this aim, advertisers resort to utilising provocative text or imagery which has garnered much debate regarding whether or not such advertisements have a place in contemporary polite society. Sentence 3 – There are pros and cons to this issue which shall be discussed in the following paragraphs.

Body paragraphs

Paragraph 1 – Provocative advertisements can spread hurtful and derogatory messages Paragraph 2 – Provocative advertisements can capture interest very quickly by maximising on shock value.

Conclusion

To sum up, I would like to state that there are both merits and drawbacks of using provocative advertisements to sell products in society. However, offending people’s sentiments to sell a product should not be condoned and such advertisements should undergo regulation before they are released to the public.

Sample Essay

Advertisements are designed to lure consumers’ attention and induce them to buy the product by creating a need for it. To achieve this aim, advertisers resort to utilising provocative text or imagery, which has garnered much debate regarding whether or not such advertisements have a place in contemporary polite society. There are pros and cons to this issue which shall be discussed in the following paragraphs. Firstly, instigating advertisements often end up spreading problematic messages to the audience and are often derogatory. An example of this would be a recent deodorant advertisement that sparked much criticism for disparaging women and was subsequently removed. Advertisements of such a nature inadvertently end up fuelling discrimination and hurting people’s sentiments. In an attempt to get conversions, subversive advertisements may also misinform their audience about their product. For example, several advertisements have used sex appeal to promote their products and make it seem that the people using their products would appear desirable. However, this is inaccurate and conveys a wrong impression to the audience. However, there are some advantages to provocative advertisements. One benefit is that they can come in handy in generating people’s interest in a product in a very short period of time by capitalising on the ‘shock value’. They are useful in drawing people’s attention and sparking conversations about products or services and boosting their popularity in the eyes of society. They can also be used to generate awareness about issues by capturing people’s attention effectively. To sum up, I would like to state that there are both merits and drawbacks of using provocative advertisements to sell products in society. However, offending people’s sentiments to sell a product should not be condoned and such advertisements should undergo regulation before they are released to the public.

Vocabulary

• Induce

Meaning – persuade or convince
Example – In the end, the shopkeeper was able to successfully induce the customer to buy the newest fancy brand of butter instead of her usual purchase.

• Resort

Meaning – make use of or employ
Example – The teacher warned his students not to resort to unfair means while writing the examination.

• Garner

Meaning – generate or gather
Example – Rani’s decision to give away free samples before her bakery was launched garnered an unprecedented amount of interest in the neighbourhood.

• Utilise

Meaning – make use of
Example – Sunny wisely utilised the free period to get some revision done before the upcoming test on Friday.

• Disparage

Meaning – regard as holding little value
Example – The players wanted to disparage their opponents after a crushing defeat.

• Derogatory

Meaning – deeply hurtful or insulting
Example – The remarks made by him on several occasions were found to be derogatory by the jury.

• Convey

Meaning – transport or communicate
Example – The farmer installed sprinklers to convey water to the fields.

• Inadvertently

Meaning – unintentionally or accidentally
Example – Susan inadvertently blurted out that they were hosting a surprise party, ruining the surprise.

• Misinform

Meaning – to give wrong information to someone
Example – Nina had been misinformed about the date of the presentation by a classmate.

• Desirable

Meaning – attractive or advantageous
Example – The location of the house was in an extremely desirable area of the city, right next to the beach.

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