Some people say that advertising encourages us to buy things that we really do not need. Others say that advertisements tell us about new products that may improve our lives. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Recently, commercial advertisements have bombarded a variety of television channels, newspapers, magazines and websites. While some claim that

this

trend helps popularise new goods that enhance people’s living standards, there are stronger reasons why the main result is the unnecessary consumption of goods by the public. There is a common fallacy that advertising is an important means to introduce new and useful

products

to the public. People may argue that in the past, a number of world-changing

products

gained popularity thanks to advertising,

such

as the success story of electronic cigarette advertisements in the early 2000s, which were believed to have saved millions from tuberculosis and lung cancer.

However

, in more recent years, the market has become saturated, leaving very little chance that one can invent a revolutionary product that changes people’s lives. Even when there are

such

life-changing inventions, it is still very unlikely that they can reach their potential

customers

through advertising channels, because these channels tend to be owned, controlled or dominated by conglomerates, who have no top priority other than promoting their own merchandise. The main purpose of most advertisements,

however

, is to persuade

customers

to make a purchase regardless of their true needs. To meet sales targets, large companies often exaggerate the usefulness of a small feature of their

products

when advertising.

For example

, the latest Samsung mobile phone seems no different from its predecessor, except for a slightly faster processor, but Samsung marketers are skilful enough to convince

customers

that their older phones are obsolete

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and that these devices must be upgraded to the latest version. Some other companies, including Unilever, have hired celebrities to endorse their

products

, so as to appeal to

customers

who are fans of these famous people. All these advertising techniques may promote sales

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but are far less likely to encourage

customers

to purchase the goods they truly need. In conclusion, advertising used to be a means of getting the market to know about new and useful

products

, but now it is primarily used as a selling tool for many businesses whose primary goal is profit. It is recommended that companies should think about

customers

’ needs before launching advertising campaigns for any of their

products

.