IELTS Book 6 Test 1 Task 2 Writing Band 9 pdf1

IELTS  6 Writing Model Essay (Free sample)

Test 1 Task 2 Question

Test 1 Task 2 Model Essay by an Expert One

Everyone complains about the amount of advertising around. You cannot go far without seeing some form of advertising, and studies suggest that the average person sees hundreds of advertising messages each day. With all these images and messages, is it any surprise that society buys things it does not need? In this essay I will argue that it is because of advertising that we consume too much, and that the power the advertisers have is used irresponsibly.

The sale of cigarettes is a case in point. With clever branding strategies and desirable, attractive images, advertisers for decades have succeeded in creating a need that did not exist beforehand. It is very clear that consuming tobacco is not a need. The power of advertising, however, is such that it is able to make a dangerous, unhealthy product into a necessity for many people.

Many will say in opposition that though advertising promotes competition between companies it does not create needs in consumers. In this light, advertising appears to be a positive force in society because it allows consumers to be informed about their choices and for companies to compete to provide the best quality goods and services. But this simply does not reflect the facts. The most heavily advertised products on children’s television, for instance, are for snacks. It is virtually impossible to turn on a television set and not see advertising for unhealthy food products. The amount of time these advertisements take up is not simply to promote competition or inform consumers. It is clear that advertising is really required when goods are not necessary, in order to create demand for them.

The way that advertisers achieve high sales is often by convincing people of a need, and then selling products to correspond. For instance, products for tooth whitening have only been around for a couple of decades. Of course, it is not that everyone in the past had terrible teeth. Rather, the need for tooth-whitening products was invented by advertising that told people to be ashamed of the way they looked. People became convinced of a new need. Today many cosmetic products, especially for women, are sold because advertisers create a demand for them through shame. In this way, advertising alters the true needs of society.

In conclusion, advertising often works to sell goods that are evidently not necessary. Moreover, advertising tries to alter the needs of a society. It is able to create needs where they did not exist before, often using people’s sense of shame to sell new products. So much of what we consume we do not need, but advertising even makes it difficult to know what is a need and what is not.

(448 words)