Understanding Advertising

Q26. Define the following terms: Product, Consumer, Brand, To influence and Lifestyle.

Ans. Product: This refers to a thing or service that has been made for being sold in the market.

Consumer: This refers to the person for whom the goods or products have been made and who pays money to buy and use them.

Brand: This refers to a special identification or name that is associated with a product. Such identification is created through the process of advertising.

To influence: This refers to the power to change what someone believes or does.

Lifestyle: In this chapter, this word refers to people’s lives being identified by the products they own, the clothes they wear, the places they eat in, etc.

Q27. What are the drawbacks of advertisements?

Ans. Drawbacks of advertisements

                       i.        It makes us believe that things that are packaged and have a brand name are far better than things that do not come in packets. We forget that the quality of a product has little to do with the packaging that it comes in. This shift to packaged products negatively affects the sales of several small businesses forcing people out of their livelihoods.

                       ii.        In a democracy in which all people are equal and should be able to lead a life of dignity, advertising tends to promote a certain lack of respect for the poor. They are not the faces we most often see in advertisements and so we tend to dismiss their lives as worthless.

                      iii.        Advertising, because it appeals to personal emotions also tends to make people who cannot afford certain brands feel bad. They feel that they are unable to give their loved ones the best care that brand products appear to offer.

Q28. What are the common problems faced by small businessmen in this age of advertisements?

Ans. Common problems faced by small businessmen in this age of advertisements are:

                       i.        Advertising a product costs a lot of money. Producing and showing advertisements in the media is very expensive. A small business will not have the money to show its product on TV or national newspapers and magazines. So, persons who sell papad, pickles, sweets and jams that they have made at home are not considered as fashionable as brand products. They often have to sell their products in weekly markets.

                       ii.        It also makes us believe that things that are packaged and have a brand name are far better than things that do not come in packets. We forget that the quality of a product has little to do with the packaging that it comes in. This shift to packaged products negatively affects the sales of several small businesses forcing people out of their livelihoods.

Q29. Choose two of your favourite print advertisements. Now, look at each of these and answer the following questions:
a. What visuals and text is being used in these advertisements to attract my attention?
b. What values are being promoted in these advertisements?
c. Who is this advertisement speaking to and who is it leaving out?
d. If you could not afford the brand that is being advertised how would you feel?

Ans.

a. It shows the tagline of “Smoking Drains You Out”.

b. It promotes the values of “Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body.”

c. This advertisement speaks to all those who love smoking and leaves out them who do not smoke.

d. I would not feel bad if I could not afford the brand that is being advertised.

a. It shows the tagline of “Skin so gentle, as gentle as a mother’s love”.

b. It promotes the values of “Mother’s love and gentle care for the child.”

c. This advertisement speaks to all those women who have small baby and leaves out who do not have.

d. I would not feel bad if I could not afford the brand that is being advertised as there are similar products available in the market.

Q30. Can you explain the ways in which you think advertising affects issues of equality in a democracy?

Ans. Advertising affects issues of equality in a democracy in the following ways:

                       i.        Advertising a product costs a lot of money. A small businessman cannot afford to show their product on TV or national newspapers and magazines. So, they often have to sell their products in weekly markets and neighbourhood shops.

                       ii.        It also makes us believe that things that are packaged and have a brand name are far better than things that do not come in packets. This shift to packaged products negatively affects the sales of several small businesses forcing people out of their livelihoods.

                      iii.        In a democracy in which all people are equal and should be able to lead a life of dignity, advertising tends to promote a certain lack of respect for the poor.

                      iv.        Advertising, because it appeals to personal emotions also tends to make people who cannot afford certain brands feel bad.

                      v.        More than just selling us products, advertisements tell us how we should live our lives, what we should aspire and dream for, how we should express our love, what it means to be smart, successful and beautiful.