essay - GMAT: Issue 33

You can tell the ideas of a nation by its advertisements.

Explain what you think this quotation means and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with it. Develop your position with reasons and/or specific examples drawn from history, current events, or your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
I think that the quotation says that advertisements can represent the ideas of a nation. People see advertisement, TV commercials, radio ones, bulletin boards, whatever, at their homes, at offices, or on trains, and only advertisements that can attract people's attention can survive. In this sense, advertisements can show what the people prefer, what the people are interested in. I agree with this notion.

But on the other hand, no doubt that advertisements have a limitation in showing the ideas of a nation or people. For instance, in a country, there are a lot of well-manufactured TV ads promoting pregnant testers. A person cannot judge whether the people living in the country support abortion or oppose it, while he can conceive that pregnancy is a high-focused topic in the country.

To sum up, I agree partly with the quotation, but it is apparently oversimplified.