ESSAY INFORMATION:
Written by: Xuân Phi, 11/07/2022
Supported by: Ex-BC Examiner, 12/07/2022
Question: Large companies use sporting events to promote their products. Some people think this has a negative impact. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
(IELTS Academic – 13/07/2022)
ANSWER (8.0+):
The discourse regarding the impact of product advertising in sporting events has generated controversy in recent years. Some argue that corporations exert a positive influence on sports since they promote products that can encourage a more active lifestyle. In my estimation, I equally agree and disagree with this sentiment since corporations can also promote products that enable a sedentary lifestyle.
To begin with, corporations can use these events to promote products that will encourage active lifestyles. To cite an example, during the 2014 World Cup, Adidas released the official tournament ball named ‘Brazuca’ and heavily promoted it on their social media accounts including Twitter and Instagram. The company made a concerted marketing effort to advertise the ball’s design, aerodynamics and production process. The marketing push behind ‘Brazuca’ during the 2014 World Cup actively encouraged viewers to buy the ball and it sold out in Adidas stores worldwide. This encouraged and continues to exert an influence on the exercise habits of millions around the world. This instance clearly illustrates the positive influence corporations can exert when promoting their products during sports events.
However, corporations have more often been known to promote products during sports that precipitate passive lifestyles. For instance, McDonald’s was the official restaurant of the 2012 Olympics in London. During the event, they released an exclusively branded menu that included burgers, fries and milkshakes. According to a spokesman for the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, the menu was recklessly unhealthy as the average calorie count for each item was over 900. When combined together to make a meal, the calorie count reached upwards of 3600, which is nearly twice the recommended daily intake for the average adult. Essentially, McDonald’s was promoting obesity in countries such as England where such a lifestyle is becoming more prevalent and represents a present danger to public health.
In conclusion, while there have been instances of corporations encouraging people to be more active through the promotion of their products, I assert that there is also equally considerable evidence of these corporations promoting a sedentary lifestyle. In the future, sporting event organizers should be more discriminatory in choosing sponsors, preferring preferably those with products that encourage to people to participate more in sports.
(Word count: 368)
WORD LIST:
| ENGLISH | TIẾNG VIỆT |
| encourage active lifestyles | khuyến khích lối sống năng động |
| make a concerted marketing effort | thực hiện một nỗ lực tiếp thị phối hợp |
| aerodynamics | khí động lực học |
| exercise habits | những thói quen tập thể dục |
| precipitate passive lifestyles | thúc đẩy lối sống thụ động |
| release an exclusively branded menu | phát hành một menu có thương hiệu độc quyền |
| the average calorie count | số lượng calo trung bình |
| the recommended daily intake | lượng hấp thụ hàng ngày được khuyến nghị |
| represent a present danger to public health | thể hiện một mối nguy hiểm hiện tại đối với sức khỏe cộng đồng |
