英语博客：An unusual way to advertise.

 　　Do you ever watch the programs (programmes) on television that show the funniest international advertisements? They generally come out about Christmas time, and provide an hour of side-splitting* entertainment. Advertising¹ is to be scrutinized*. Even my children will comment on whether or not an advertisement is any good. Some are very clever, some are downright* annoying, and some are confusing. I've found that as my children's critical thinking develops, so do their comments about anything in the media. "That advertisement sucks," one of them will say. Obviously 'sucks' is slang³ for something being awful or of very poor quality. I will ask why it 'sucks', and the answer will be something like, "It's not convincing," or "there's no point to it," or perhaps even, "they're trying to be funny, but they're not." I suppose the whole point of advertising is to catch the attention of the public, and to convince us to buy something. So, everyone should be a critic, and we should use our own brains to decide how good an advertisement is, and if the product is really worth buying. Sometimes the simplest advertisements are the best. I remember a series of Australian beer commercials for Foster's, that were really funny. They were very basic, showing how rugged⁴* Australia is, and then indicating that Foster's beer is also rugged. The commercials used exaggeration to get their message across, and they did a good job. The other day I came across an unusual form of advertising: a large pretzel hanging in a tree. It sounds a little strange, doesn't it? It was outside a bakery, in the town of Leavenworth. Several pretzels were hanging on several trees along the street, and they had obviously come from the bakery which displayed pretzels. I thought that this was a genius idea. I went inside and asked a lady who was arranging cakes if there was a story or tradition around# the pretzel hanging in the tree. "Oh no," she said, "it's just for advertising." It had certainly sparked by interest. Infact, whether they intended it or not, that bakery had established  its own tradition  through advertising.

　　Related vocabulary and expressions: side-splitting, to scrutinize², downright, rugged (a story/ tradition around  on Facebook at Anna Fromacupofenglish)

　　1. The comedy night at the local club was side-splittingly funny. When I got home, my stomach and my sides hurt from laughing.

　　2. My neighbors scrutinize everything that I do: how I park my car, when I mow⁵ the lawn, even how often I walk the dog.

　　3. She is downright lazy! She sits around, watching tv, and expects everyone else to work!

　　4. The men who live in this area are rugged; they are tough, hard working, and basic.

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 scrutinize   

n.详细检查，细读

参考例句：

• Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man.她的目的是通过仔细观察他的相貌以判断他是否诚实。
• She leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.她探身向前，端详他们的面容。

3 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

4 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

5 mow   

v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆

参考例句：

• He hired a man to mow the lawn.他雇人割草。
• We shall have to mow down the tall grass in the big field.我们得把大田里的高草割掉。