Speaking about Advertisement

2. What is the funniest advertisement you have seen? Describe it.

• An ad for Haynes Baked beans, which is canned beans. The setting is a space exploration when the whole space crew (đội phi hành gia) land on a planet and started to ground the American flag. Suddenly an ugly and fierce monster comes out of nowhere, smashing (đập nát) the first astronaut, throwing the second one into the air and chases the third one with its giant strides (bước sải khổng lồ) It then catches the third astronaut and crunches (nghiền) him between its mighty hands (bàn tay khỏe) before pounding (giã) him dead on the ground. The 4^th one is hiding behind a big rock and seems to considered safe from the massacre. (cuộc thảm sát) The funny part starts from that. He… farts, (đánh rắm) and the sound makes the blood-thirsty monster turn his back, and you can imagine the doomsday (ngày tận thế) of the last astronaut. Finally, the image of a can of Haynes Baked been, rich in fibers (chất xơ) appear which funnily connect the fart with the digestive power the bean can offer. It really gives me a big laugh.

3. What makes an ad memorable?

• Advertisements are usually very sense evoking. (kích thích giác quan) An ad will do its best to strike our sense of sight (thị giác) with lots of beautiful colours and graphic design as well as movie effects. (kĩ xảo điện ảnh) The sense of hearing (thính giác) is activated with background music and the spoken message. It also targets the certain bracket of customers and thus depict scenes very familiar with them in daily life. One of the prominent effects is that even at a distance from the TV screen when the ad is shown, the background music can bring back memory about the product being advertised in people’s mind. Also, in their daily routines, sometimes people can connect to the advertisement because it firmly tied with their needs in certain situations.

4. What are the different types of advertising? (Eg. TV)

TV commercials, (quảng cáo trên TV) radio advertisements, newspaper, magazine ads, posters, banners, billboards, (bảng quảng cáo rất lớn) leaflets/flyers (tờ rơi), brochures. Web banners, application banners, advertising emails, telephone marketing, social network’s advertisements, product placement (advertisements embedded in movies).

5. What types of companies choose each type?

It really depends, but I believe the type of products plays an important role in the selection of media for advertising. For consumer products, prime time (giờ vàng cho quảng cáo) on TV, advertisement on Facebook groups, or huge coverage (diện tích mặt báo) in newspapers are the most appropriate, but for industrial products, advertising on industrial journals (tạp chí công nghiệp) will be more effective, etc.

6. Do you buy products because of advertising?

No, I don’t. I just buy things I need regardless of whether there are commercials about them or not. I also do not buy things based on heuristic thinking, (suy nghĩ cạn, nghe theo lời khuyên, ít phân tích, so sánh) but on analytical and systematic thinking. Also, I am a price-conscious buyer (người mua nhạy cảm với giá cả) who set both upper and lower limits for the price range I would like the purchased item fall into.

7. Do you find advertising persuasive?

To tell the truth, I don’t buy it because for sure, only good sides of the products are extolled (ca ngợi) and the negative is concealed. (che giấu)

8. Why do you buy one product over another?

There are many aspects that should be counted upon (tính đến, trông chờ vào) in the comparison to make a purchasing decision (quyết định mua) such as brand name, functions, price, colours, warranty time, country of origin, etc.

9. Should advertisers be allowed to advertise to children?

There should be restriction to advertising to children because kids cannot control themselves well and tend to seek impulsive buying. If parents ignore children’s favourite items, the kids will keep on pestering (vòi vĩnh, đòi), which annoys any parents.

Commercials that encourage children to buy things would also sadly lead to a consumerism society or a wasteful lifestyle later on,  which, to an extreme extent, can contribute to the depletion of natural resources.

10. Should alcohol or tobacco companies be allowed to advertise? Why or why not?

I believe cigarettes and alcohol are both detrimental to health (hại sức khỏe) and should not be allowed to advertise to reduce cases of taking up the bad habit of smoking and drinking, especially among adolescents. (vị thành niên)

11. What do you think of celebrity endorsements? (dùng người nổi tiếng quảng cáo cho sản phẩm)

I think it works for many people who really love and admire their stars. When fans see their idol use a product, they are likely to love that product, too.

12. Which celebrities advertise which products?

Son Tung, the singer endorses Oppo phones, Bao Anh, the singer advertises for Shopee, an e-commerce platform.

David Beckham represented Gillette in an advertising contract that required him to shave his head for a year.

13. Do favorite or annoying celebrities make you want or not want to buy a product?

Obviously, if I revered any celebrities, my shopping would be influenced in the way that I would choose the products and brand name endorsed by my idol and may boycott (tẩy chay) the one endorsed by a star I dislike. However, I do not have any idols, and thus I am free from any influence from celebrity endorsement.

14. Should there be advertisement-free zones?

Needless to say, business premises (cơ ngơi kinh doanh) will be optimized (tối ưu hóa) for advertisement display for brand building already, so this is a must-have-advertisement zone.

Also, I believe that for the benefits of companies, they need different channels to reach potential customers to maintain operation and develop. The public places like the streets, transport stations and the like should be made available for advertising for the sake of these businesses. It will be considered fair because businesses were born to serve the public needs, so they need to be allowed to make their presence in public places.

The only place where people can have advertisement-free zone is at their own home.

15. Is there truth in advertising?

Obviously there is. Whoever is dumb enough to let advertisements cheat them to buy products all the time? However, people’s trust is also a scarce commodity (hàng hiếm) which is irreplaceable, and a lot of trust has been shattered (đập vỡ) with exaggerating introductions (giới thiệu thổi phồng) about products, especially in online shopping.

16. What kind of advertisements attract your attention?

I love anything hilarious (hài hước) to give my dull brain a bust of energy or anything humanitarian (mang tính nhân văn) to move me to tears. (làm tôi khóc) Also, I appreciate advertisements that are creative with unpredictable ways to present the product.

17. Why is it necessary to advertise?

Advertising is the heart operating the whole cardiovascular system (hệ tuần hoàn) to connect different organs like finance, product research and development, and sales to help the business body stay alive and thrive. (phát triển) It helps companies to keep abreast of their rivals (đi trước đối thủ); therefore, advertising is essential in this age of harsh competition. (cạnh tranh khốc liệt)

18. Do you think advertising should be allowed to interrupt TV or radio programmes? What are the alternatives?

Advertising during prime time is not novel to us, but has been accepted as a norm. (chuyện thường) Television and radio channels need to do so to earn from their coverage for advertisements (thời lượng quảng cáo) unless they will have to charge viewers more for their broadcasting services. I think the only way people can reduce the annoyance of interrupted programs is to tune into (mở) channels that claim to have less advertising.

19. What is the best way to advertise to children? Adults? Seniors? etc.

Children, adults, and seniors or any brackets of target customers (nhóm khách hàng mục tiêu) have their own characteristics, and demographic statistics (thống kê nhân khẩu học) of these groups of people should be studied carefully in market research (nghiên cứu thị trường) in the preparation for launching an advertising campaign for a product.

20. Do you think advertising is too expensive?

I believe it is not cheap, but if done right, the advertising cost can be proportional to (tỷ lệ với) the income it generates. (tạo ra)

21. What are some effective adverts you have seen lately (on TV, newspaper, etc)?

• The advertisement of Vinamilk which involves the animated and personified (nhân hóa) cow in interaction with the kids. It is hilarious to watch for both kids and their parents when the characters in the commercial are all very cute.
• The advertisement about Downy fabric conditioner with the perfume fragrance (hương thơm). It strikes the interest of many who love to wear perfumes (xức nước hoa) because the pleasant scent stays with them for extended period of time.

22. What are some ineffective adverts you have seen lately?

To tell the truth, I have no idea about any ineffective adverts, but I guess they must have some inappropriateness (sự không phù hợp) like going against the local culture, showing messages of discrimination (sự kì thị) of race, social class, or gender, or showing images sensitive to the target customers.

23. What are some different methods of advertising?

Repetition: expose the target customers to frequent advertisements

Celebrity endorsement: involve celebrities in commercials

Product placement: embed (cấy) the product into movies

Funny or meaningful commercials

Do you think that the Internet and cable/satelite TV have become more important than national TV for advertising products?

Sure, because it is cheaper to advertise on the web and the internet and cable or satellite TV can reach more audience with more intriguing programs and channels compared to national TV.

25. What do you think is the best way of discovering the tastes and interests of teenage consumers?

Market research on a large scale (trên quy mô lớn) will work I guess because such measures as observation and focus group interviews are not strong enough to reflect the diverse needs (of this age. If the living areas of these adolescents are taken into consideration, the question will be too wide to answer. Instead, the focus on teenagers in a specific demographic group is necessary for market research on their taste and interests to be feasible. (khả thi)

26. Can TV advertising be a force for good? (quảng cáo TV có tạo ảnh hưởng tốt không?)

It can, especially when the advertisement aims at building an image of an environmentally friendly product like a electricity saving devices, enhancing healthy lifestyles in food products, or embracing (trân trọng) family traditions in advertisements with the setting of family gathering for holidays.

27. How easy do you think it is to influence children with advertising?

When children see the host of their favourite TV show or their beloved Youtuber endorse a particular product, they would drool over (thèm nhỏ dãi) that item in the commercial. Children can be considered the ones affected most by advertising.

28. Do you agree with anti-consumerism organisations that the child will have watched 350,000 commercials by the time she graduates from high school?

I am not sure about the accuracy and validity (sự chính xác và tính hợp lệ) of this number but it really resonates with (cộng hưởng với) the fact that people are excessively exposed to advertisements throughout their lives.