Hello, Sunshine.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory.
We're the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast.
The podcast aims to help you improve your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills, along the way.
We've started this podcast to give you gorgeous grammar and fabulous vocabulary for your high IELTS score and night score.
Oh, I really like what you're wearing today.
Where did you get that?
Yeah, I got it in Turkey.
And it's called OXO.
OXO clothes.
So O-X-X-O.
I don't know where it comes from, but yeah, when I was in Istanbul, I bought this.
Peace.
That's okay.
You're a good advertisement for them.
Shall we talk about advertisements?
I think so.
That's the coincidence. on this podcast again.
It's a comeback, dear listener.
We had this topic a year ago in 2021 and we released an episode on the 31st of May 2021.
So you can listen to the old episode and now you can listen to the new episode again.
Ielts, people do recycle the different topics, maybe because they don't have enough topics and advertisements.
It's just a nice topic and everybody can relate.
So here we are with advertisements adverts, ads.
Rory, what advertisements do you dislike?
All of them, really?
Who wants to watch ads when they could be watching their favorite shows or I don't know whatever media is they're consuming.
It's maybe easier to talk about the ones I like, such as the Iron Brew adverts, which usually have some sort of borderline offensive humor going on.
That's always edgy or darkly funny or offbeat.
Most ads are not like that though, which is why I don't like them.
Do ads influence your choice of products?
I think once or twice I bought something because it was supported by someone I followed on social media.
I have a few shirts as a result of doing something like that.
Otherwise, not really, no.
If anything, they negatively influence it to make me not want something.
Take those miracle supplement ads, for example.
Everyone knows the sports people in them are taking steroids or something else to make them cheat.
Why would I want to buy something from someone being dishonest when I can work hard and take pleasure from that instead?
Is there too much advertising in our life?
Honestly, any advertising is too much advertising.
I think you should just let people look and find by themselves, using whatever search criteria they come up with.
Although I'm probably being a bit utopian about that, since I'm quite independently minded and many people are not.
And there are some genuinely quite nice adverts.
I like the Stellaris fifth anniversary trailer.
That's got good music.
Why do companies advertise their products?
Well, in short, to make money.
And in more detail, to make more money than they otherwise would if they just let people look for things by themselves.
I mean, if the branded beans have a catchy tune and an advert compared to the store-branded beans, then people are more likely to be influenced to go and buy the snazzier version, even though it's just about exactly the same product.
Is advertising important?
Well, it depends on what we're talking about.
Advertising executives would probably say so yes, since it's well their whole business to create these things.
And they're also supporting industries in graphic design, which benefit too.
But it's not like they would cease to exist without advertising.
And it's important for consumers to make an informed choice.
Maybe, although given how dishonest they are these days, I highly doubt it.
Is it good that celebrities advertise products?
Well, absolutely not, unless it's their area of speciality or connected to something they're involved in.
I'll listen to a movie star talk about their recent movie, because that's what they were playing a part in, but I'm not taking life advice from them.
What on earth do they know about how to live well?
Enough of them seem to have catastrophically bad lifestyle outcomes that it seems like the opposite advice would be better to follow now.
Thank you, Rory, for your answers.
Hopefully they were good advertising for us.
Our free episodes focus on part one, but if you really really like our stuff then you can subscribe to our premium, and that focuses on parts two and parts three.
So you get the full speaking test experience.
This week I'm going to describe a time when I was caught in a traffic jam, and then we'll follow up in part three with more questions about traffic problems.
It's another coincidence.
The link is in the description.
Make sure to check it out.
And now a short break for commercials.
We have our own phrasal verb course.
Oh, my God.
Yes, we do.
And the only reason I like this advert is because I know exactly what to say.
Sign up for our phrasal verbs course at successwithielts.com forward slash podcourses.
You can tell I've had it drummed into me and that's why I can say it just like off the cuff, like that.
Yeah.
First of all, how do we say it?
Advertisements, advertisements, advertisements.
Well, in America, I'm pretty sure it's advertisements, but there's also ads, advertising.
Yeah, so these like video clips, advertisements or ads.
So advertisements, adverts, ads, right?
Can I also say commercials, like to paraphrase?
Yeah, that's like an Americanism.
I think they usually say commercials.
Right.
But if I talk about the whole industry, that means advertising.
And is it advertising or advertising or both?
I didn't really hear a difference there, but then maybe my earphones aren't so great.
Maybe your ears aren't so great.
That's a very rude thing to say.
I have to go to the doctor on Friday to talk about my ears.
Really?
Yes, really.
No, we do need your ears.
No, you don't need my voice.
We do need your ears.
No, because you listen to me, you respond, and then, you know, we do need your face.
What?
We do need you all kind of intact.
Oh, that joke was wasted on you.
About the ears.
Did you not hear that?
No.
You said it's important for you to listen to me, and then I was like, what?
Sorry.
Ha.
Ha ha.
I'm in trouble now.
So, advertising or advertising?
Advertising?
Advertising.
Advertising.
Advertising, yeah.
Advertisements are important.
Advertising is important because it's an industry, right?
Advertising.
And also we can say, for example...
Advertising executives.
So what did you mean by this?
Advertising executives.
Well, there are people that are, I suppose, in charge of advertising departments.
So an executive is like higher level.
And if it's advertising executive, then they're the higher level employees that organize all the advertising.
And when you say that I dislike ads, you can say I can't stand them, I...
Hate all advertisements, all adverts.
And then Rory said that, well, I like some of them, right?
So, and...
Iron Brew.
That's really Scottish, right?
Well, allegedly it's really Scottish, but you can get it in England.
People say it's hard to find.
It's not.
It shouldn't be hard to find.
And then we can like some ads because of their borderline offensive humor.
So humor, offensive humor about what, Rory?
What's offensive humor?
Well, I think the...
Well, we probably shouldn't dwell on this too much because it's going to get us cancelled.
But like offensive humor is usually about some kind of subject that people find quite taboo, or it's like extremely offbeat.
For example, in one of the Iron Brew adverts, they're singing about Iron Brew.
And then the woman in the video, the mother, says, I love Iron Brew even though I used to be a man.
So it's like totally irrelevant to enjoying Iron Brew.
But...
She just like breaks into this solo number while all the other members of the family look at her like what did you just say?
Yeah, and if you say that something is offbeat, it's one word.
It means that something is different from the ordinary, something like unusual.
But still, it's positive, right?
Offbeat.
It means that something's irregular.
That could be positive or negative, depending on how you like your comedy.
For example, we can say, oh, he's got an offbeat sense of humor, right?
Or I like the ads with an offbeat sense of humor.
So extraordinary, something unusual.
So, yeah.
Androi said, like, some ads have borderline offensive humor, offbeat humor.
And then you said that edgy.
You also said edgy.
Edgy humor.
Yeah.
But edgy just means like close to well, it's just like close to being offensive or getting you in trouble with the wider public who might be more sensitive than you are.
So can I say that well, usually I hate advertisements, but some adverts which are hedgy and offbeat are quite okay for me.
Well, they're not okay for you.
You can find them funny or find them entertaining.
You have to explain why you like them.
So I find edgy adverts funny or entertaining.
So edgy adverts.
Right.
Adverts can negatively influence our choices, right?
So rory follows somebody on social media.
He goes there and buys their products.
You, dear listener viewer, our favorite person, watch us, listen to us and then you go and buy what rory, If you're so inclined, you could buy our premium episodes for part two and part three.
You will find the links for those in the description below.
Now I've completely sold myself out.
Yeah, so Rory has just sold himself.
Okay, yeah.
So some ads not our ads, some ads can negatively influence our choice or could have a negative effect, a negative influence on our choice.
And then...
Rory made an example about miracle supplement.
What did you mean by miracle supplement?
You see them on.
Well, maybe you don't see them on your social media feeds, but You can see them on Instagram.
You have these absolutely massive guys who are advertising these.
They could be pills or powders that people take.
And apparently they make you look great.
But... they're called supplements for a reason.
It's like something that you add on to something, but they sell it like it's the main thing.
So that should be your first clue that something's not correct.
But that requires people to have a grasp of well, a good grasp of language.
So that's what they are.
It could be, to be honest, they do it for everything and it's all absolute nonsense.
Yeah, you can say that I don't like advertisements because they are dishonest and people cheat and they lie and they are all a bunch of lies.
Yeah.
I mean, for example, it's like one of the.
Some of them are like oh, you should take this powder and it'll make you look good.
But these people are clearly taking performance enhancing drugs.
No one naturally looks like that.
No one with that amount of veins, for example, or that number of veins, is living a normal life.
Take this water and it will make you into a band 9 person.
You just drink it and you get a band 9 for everything.
Something like that.
Well, even we've never said, if you listen to our podcast, you're going to get a band nine.
That's really misleading.
Yeah, we've never said that.
Maybe we should.
We've said that we're helping.
That's different.
It takes hard work.
Yeah.
Sorry.
Yeah.
Life is difficult.
Yeah, but again on the bright side, many of our listeners do get higher scores, especially for speaking and listening right.
And people get to have fun along the way.
Any advertising is too much advertising.
So, yeah, Rory doesn't like it.
And Rory, you've used a very interesting grammar structure here.
Have I?
Yes, you did.
You said like, I'm probably being a bit utopian about it because blah, blah, blah.
Why did you say that I'm probably being utopian?
Utopian like utopia, right?
So imaginary utopia.
Kind of something, right?
Which doesn't exist.
Utopia.
Utopian.
So I'm probably being.
Why not I'm?
Well, I'm in trouble now because I've used present continuous.
No actually, to be honest with you, there's a very good purpose behind that, because we're using present continuous to describe a temporary situation.
And what I'm saying is this is my belief now, but it's probably going to change because it's a bit idealistic about the world, so i should probably change it.
Yeah so, for example, you usually say okay, i'm beautiful, i'm smart, i'm gorgeous, i'm amazing, i'm maria, i'm rory.
But if you say i'm being silly, It's just right, now right.
And it's like a temporary situation, not forever.
Like, I'm smart, right?
But in this situation, oh, I'm being silly at the moment.
Right.
So and this is a very high level use of the present continuous.
And also, for example, when Rory is being stupid or silly and I go like, Rory, you've been silly.
Like, stop it.
Right.
You are telling me nonsense.
You're telling me gibberish gibberish, right.
So just keep telling me smart things, right?
So just for this particular moment, i would like to point out i wasn't being stupid with that explanation of present continuous.
That was a good one, it was a good one.
Or, for example, we can also say oh, you're being too kind, But actually the person is not kind at all usually.
And you say, oh, you are being far too kind now, right?
But usually they're evil.
And some adverts are genuinely nice.
So genuinely, if something is genuinely nice, it's like really nice.
Truly, yeah.
I shouldn't have said nice, though.
Like, that's a bit bland.
Yeah, but you did use a lot of adjectives.
We used edgy and offensive and offbeat.
And also you've used utopian.
You also used a nice adjective snazzy.
Yes.
Snazzy is like nice, but it means it's interesting, it's sparkly, it's shiny and new.
Give us examples.
It's like a fun combination of something that's fashionable and interesting and it attracts your attention.
So, for example, usually... Well, look at the example I gave with the beans.
Usually people buy beans that have nice covers because they're interesting.
Yeah, or for example, people can design some snazzy graphics.
Snazzy graphics.
It's to do with getting attention.
So actually it's perfect for talking about advertising, because advertising is all about getting attention.
Yeah, it should be eye-catching.
Can I say like snazzy adverts?
Snazzy advertising?
It's usually the products that are snazzy as opposed to the advertising, but it could still count.
I mean, it's still a good adjective to use because like I say, it fits the context.
Can my clothes be snazzy?
Snazzy clothes.
They frequently are in your case.
The shoes, it's the shoes.
I say this as I'm wearing black shirt number 327.
Yeah, then we can talk about the importance of advertisements for consumers, for customers, consumers and also for advertising executives, right?
So for the managers, for advertising people.
Rory doesn't take any advice from celebrities.
Sorry, I went on a little bit of a rant there.
But really, when you think about it, what on earth does an actor know about whatever product it is they're trying to sell, unless they made it themselves?
I'm not taking any advice from them.
Celebrities advertise some products.
And what's the word?
What's the very precise word to say that celebrities, famous people, advertise different products?
Oh, I didn't say it.
Endorsement endorsement ah yeah, endorsement.
Sorry, so you could say like I'm not paying any attention to celebrity endorsements, and that would be absolutely fine.
Yeah, I didn't say that though.
However I was, I was caught up in being outraged about how much I dislike celebrities, so that's okay.
And then Romi is kind of getting emotional and then like what on earth do they know about life?
How to live life well, you know?
And that's fine.
You know, celebrities advertising things, telling me what to do, what to drink.
I'm not taking advice from them.
That's a good one for intonation as well.
And it's still connected to asking questions.
It's not a question tag.
It's just what on earth do they know about?
And then you could talk about whatever the topic is.
And what do they know about how to live well?
I ask you.
Write in the comments.
Seriously.
Has a celebrity come out with any piece of life advice while they were advertising a product that you would want to follow?
Hmm.
I like Messi.
Messi, yeah.
But he advertises, you know, crisps and Pepsi.
Oh, yeah.
That's what we need in an obesity crisis.
And he doesn't say anything.
He's just there, you know.
He just eats these crisps and drinks, you know.
And he's nice.
Messi, Messi, Messi.
Yes, Messi, if you want to sponsor our podcast, you can go ahead and write to us, okay?
Argentina.
Football.
Right, dear listener, thank you very much.
Again, it's a comeback of a topic, so do listen to our audio episode we recorded last year in May.
May yeah, May 2021.
And yeah, stay in touch.
Thank you so much.
Bye.
We'll see you next week.
Bye-bye.
Rory, what advertisements do you dislike?
All of them, really?
Who wants to watch ads when they could be watching their favorite shows or I don't know whatever media is they're consuming.
It's maybe easier to talk about the ones I like, such as the Iron Brew adverts, which usually have some sort of borderline offensive humor going on.
That's always edgy or darkly funny or offbeat.
Most ads are not like that though, which is why I don't like them.
Do ads influence your choice of products?
I think once or twice I bought something because it was supported by someone I followed on social media.
I have a few shirts as a result of doing something like that.
Otherwise, not really, no.
If anything, they negatively influence it to make me not want something.
Take those miracle supplement ads, for example.
Everyone knows the sports people in them are taking steroids or something else to make them cheat.
Why would I want to buy something from someone being dishonest when I can work hard and take pleasure from that instead?
Is there too much advertising in our life?
Honestly, any advertising is too much advertising.
I think you should just let people look and find by themselves, using whatever search criteria they come up with.
Although...
I'm probably being a bit utopian about that, since I'm quite independently minded and many people are not.
And there are some genuinely quite nice adverts.
I like the Stellaris fifth anniversary trailer.
That's got good music.
Why do companies advertise their products? well, in short, to make money.
And in more detail, to make more money than they otherwise would if they just let people look for things by themselves.
I mean, if the branded beans have a catchy tune and an advert compared to the store branded beans, then people are more likely to be influenced to go and buy the snazzier version, even though it's just about exactly the same product.
Is advertising important?
Well, it depends on what we're talking about.
Advertising executives would probably say so yes, since it's well their whole business to create these things.
And they're also supporting industries in graphic design, which benefit too.
But it's not like they would cease to exist without advertising.
And it's important for consumers to make an informed choice.
Maybe, although given how dishonest they are these days, I highly doubt it.
Is it good that celebrities advertise products?
Well, absolutely not, unless it's their area of speciality or connected to something they're involved in.
I'll listen to a movie star talk about their recent movie, because that's what they were playing a part in, but I'm not taking life advice from them.
What on earth do they know about how to live well?
Enough of them seem to have catastrophically bad lifestyle outcomes that it seems like the opposite advice would be better to follow now.
