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UNIT 8 TV Commercials
Integrated Skills Development
Passage An Advertising Gimmick Shown on TV
Advertisement—most commonly known as "commercial" among the Americans, is a commonplace in a country where commodity economy controls. A visitor to the United States will soon find advertisements of all kinds everywhere, for example, glittering neon signs on top of high buildings and along main streets, colorful pictures painted on buses, pamphlets sent to every house, ads jammed between TV programs, various ads glutting newspapers and radio broadcast, etc.
Businessmen spend lots of money advertising their products and services to promote sales. As trade war becomes increasingly intense, advertising has developed into a thriving industry. For each of its subjects, experts are now racking their brains and have invented new ideas. One of their main subjects is how to attract people's attention to their commodities, prices and services, and how to make ads appear natural so that people are impressed unconsciously with all they see and hear. Here is one example I saw on TV.
The advertising gimmick called "The Price Is Right" is like a riddle game. Dozens of audience are sitting before a stage. There a variety of commodities are neatly placed and colorfully decorated with beautiful patterns and shining lights. Then come two or three pretty girls dressed in miniskirts . They stand beside the exhibits, smiling to the audience. A man speaks, through his mike, to the audience to invite four volunteers to join the game. When they step onto the stage, the man speaks in an agitating voice: "If you can tell exactly the right prices of these four items, you can win prize worth a hundred thousand dollars!" As he says this, he points to a new, smart and nice car, placed on a slowly turning platform. The audience, seeing this wonderful prize, exclaim excitedly. The volunteers take turns to make their guesses. Some guess correctly the price of two or three items, but seldom can they get all four items correct. However, in this trial, a housewife happens to tell the right prices of all four items. She is now the winner of the marvelous car! She is so excited that she seems blind and deaf when the man hands her a card and says to her:" Madame, congratulations! Now this car belongs to you!" "To me? My God!" she exclaims after she recovers from her abstraction.
Not only are the audience sitting in the hall absorbed in the appealing game but also the TV-viewers of families. No wonder, they are interested in the exciting game, the beautiful exhibits, the tempting award and perhaps the charming girls, and at the same time, the commodities and their prices find their way into the audience.
What do you think? Is it a successful advertising gimmick or only a trick?
New Words and Expressions
absorb
v. 使專心
abstraction
n. 心不在焉
agitate
v. 煽動；鼓動
appeal
v. & n.呼吁；申述
audience
n. 聽眾，觀眾，讀者
award
n. 獎，獎品
blind
a. 瞎的
brain
n. 腦（子）；腦力，智能
broadcast
n. 廣播，播音
businessman
n. 商人
charm
n. 魅力；嫵媚
v. 迷人
colorful
a. 色彩豐富的
