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Advertising: Mind Control for the Masses 小心别被广告洗了脑!

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On the TV screen you see a family driving in their SUV. You notice how unusually happy they look. Could a new SUV make you that Happy? Probably not, but advertisers are determined to convince you it could.

你在电视屏幕上看到一家人正开着他们的休旅车，你注意到他们看起来异常开心。一台新的休旅车能让你那么开心吗?或许不能，但广告商决心要说服你就是可以让你那么开心。

The SUV ad works by linking a product with positive emotions. It’s an effective technique, but it’s just one of many available to today’s advertisers. Another is repetition, where the aim is simple to get consumers to remember the name of a brand. The makers of a certain cola are firm believers in this method. Other ads try to convince us to jump on the bandwagon; everyone is buying it, and you should too. But perhaps the most sophisticated of all advertising techniques is guerilla marketing. The makers of a new motor racing game used this technique. They offered to pay any speeding fines issued on the day the game was launched. This kind of marketing is so sneaky that we may not even realize we are being advertised to.

休旅车广告的成功之处在于连结商品和正面情绪，这是个有效的方法，但只是现今广告商的诸多手法之一。另一种手法是不断重复，其目的仅仅是为了要让消费者记住品牌名称，某些可乐广告商就是这个手法的忠实信徒。有的广告则是企图要说服我们跟随潮流；大家都买，你也要买。但或许最高明的广告技巧是游击营销，新赛车游戏的制造商用的就是这项手法，他们表示愿意支付游戏发行当日的任何超速罚单。这是种暗中营销的手法，我们可能甚至不会察觉到自己正在接受这则广告。

No matter which method they use, all ads have a common aim: to influence the choices you make. That’s alright as long as you are aware of it. So, go ahead and listen to what the advertisers have to say, but make the final decisions for yourself.

不管是哪种手法，所有广告只有一个共同目的:影响你做的选择。只要你意识到这点，那就没关系。所以，尽管去听听广告商们要说些什么，但自己要做最后的决定!

－by Bill Martin & Michael Costello

Vocabulary

单词发音

convince [kənˋvɪns] v. 说服

available [əˋveləb!] adj. 可利用的; 可得到的

repetition [͵rɛpɪˋtɪʃən] n. 重复；反复

consumer [kənˋsjumɚ] n. 消费者；消耗者

sophisticated [səˋfɪstɪ͵ketɪd] adj. 复杂的，精密的

More Information

单词发音

masses [ˋmæsɪz] n. 平民；群众

advertiser [ˋædvɚ͵taɪzɚ] n. 刊登广告者；广告客户

link [lɪŋk] v. 连接，结合

jump on the bandwagon  赶时髦 to support something that is popular

guerilla [gəˋrɪlə] marketing  游击营销（非传统的营销策略，以最少的投资获取最大的收益）

fine [faɪn] n. 罚金，罚款

issue [ˋɪʃjʊ] v. 发行; 开出

launch [lɔntʃ] v. 投放市场; 发起

sneaky [ˋsnikɪ] adj. 鬼鬼祟祟的

be aware of  意识到, 注意到, 知道