新編大學(xué)英語(yǔ)第四冊(cè)u(píng)nit6 Text B: Insights into Advertising

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UNIT 6 AFTER-CLASS READING 1; New College English (IV)

Insights into Advertising

1 Advertising is a universal enterprise. Anyone who watches Chinese TV ads for pills that claim the power to increase a young person's height by several centimeters, make fat men and women thin and attractive, or even increase the length of legs is aware of the insidious nature of advertising. The same types of unfounded claims are made everywhere, although they are better regulated in some countries than others.

2 A case study of a venture into American advertising by a friend of mine might be helpful in understanding how ads are born and how they are used. This story involves the young U. S. couple, Jane and John Doe, in the innocent, early years of their professional development.

3 Jane and John were a rather ordinary faculty couple with several years of teaching experience in a Midwestern university. Being somewhat ambitious as well as naive, they decided to extend their graduate education by attending a prestigious university in New York City. In addition to being naive, the Does were also financially limited. They lived frugally, worked hard, but their limited savings were being exhausted by the high costs of living in New York City's uptown Manhattan area. Matters were complicated when Jane and John dreamed of studying and traveling in the Caribbean islands, an idea which seemed unlikely in view of their near-poverty level life style.

4 As frequently happens, but more often in dreams than in reality a "silver lining" appeared in the cloudy future of the Does. A popular TV show was recruiting out-of-town people in an attempt to increase their market share among competitive TV quiz shows, all of which were sponsored by advertising. An acquaintance of the Does had appeared on the show and was urged to tell his friends to try out as well. John decided to try out for the show. John was accepted and succeeded in winning about $700 in prizes on the TV show. This made their trip to the Caribbean possible.

5 John's good luck was, however, not finished. The day after John's appearance on the TV show he received a phone call from a talent recruiter for a large advertising firm in New York City. The recruiter had noticed that John's voice was picked up clearly by the studio microphones of the TV show, and that John's open personality suggested he might be a candidate for making a commercial TV ad. John asked about the product concerned, and was told it was a medication which had first been developed as a treatment for allergies and colds, but was being marketed as a non-prescription pill for inducing sleep. "E Z SLEEP" had been expensive to develop, but not successful when used for allergies and common colds.

6 John had reservations about endorsing a medical product he knew nothing about, but having had his financial potential aided from the TV quiz show experience, he agreed to at least visit the office of the advertising company. He spent about three hours in the elegant offices of the company. The Vice-President, writers and managers all convinced him that the product had zero mammalian toxicity in several tests, but that its effects were only about the same as a placebo when tested in clinical trials. John was assured that he was not asked to endorse the product, but only to play the part of an "actor" in a commercial advertisement at a prominent TV studio. The studio work crew included 28 persons from makeup artists, to video cameramen, set designers, director and legal representatives. The latter made sure that nothing could be inferred from the commercial that violated the strict regulations governing marketing of non-prescription medical products.

7 John asked about the pay for making the ad and was told that he would receive $100 for the one day necessary to produce the ad. He would receive additional payments of $50 each time the ad was used on national television. The manager's estimate was that the average ad produced about $500 (an average of 10 times an ad was used). Success of the ad would be measured by an independent polling agency which randomly phoned TV viewers and questioned them about that specific ad. If the ad became popular and was shown more often, and if the period of time it was used went beyond six months, John would be given not only the residuals, but would receive an excellent health insurance coverage for his family, and his membership in the Screen Actors' Guild would be paid for by the advertising company.

8 Agency legal advisors prepared a contract just before John made the commercial. This document spelled out the "actor's" and the ad company's liability, and required that John use the medicine at least once. John asked whether taking the medicine E Z SLEEP would make him too sleepy to make the ad, but the lawyer and managers just smiled and said, "not likely".

9 John made the ad, determined that the five or more hours required were hard work, but welcomed the $100 check, and he and Jane made plans for their Caribbean study and travel. Their frugal life style along with funds from the quiz show winnings and the ad payment made it possible for them to have an enjoyable professional and personal experience in the Caribbean islands. They afterwards returned to their Midwestern university with enthusiasm for continuing their work there.

10 The Does heard nothing from the advertising company until about 6 months later when a check for $350 arrived along with a slip indicating that the ad had been shown seven times on national TV. Both John and Joan felt the ad was not very good, and they thought that was the end of John's commercial ad career.

11 It was not until weeks later when John began receiving letters and phone calls from friends around the U.S. who had seen his ad on TV, that it occurred to him that the ad was being used quite a lot.

12 By the time the Does had begun building their home two years later near the university campus, John had received more than $5,000 from the earnings of the ad, he was a member of Screen Actors' Guild, and his family had a health insurance policy paid for them.

13 John was sent a copy of the ad, and to this day he and Jane feel the quality of the ad is not very good. In fact, it seems that there is little or no correlation between the quality or efficiency of an ad in marketing a product, and the actual sales of that product.

14 But, that is the nature of advertising. John's advice to consumers is, "Don't believe everything you see on TV ads, and don't believe half of what you read in magazines or newspapers in commercial advertisements. You would be much better off to seek reliable professional advice if you have need of medical care, and the same is likely true of business ventures as well."