Describing an ad.

( Expression écrite)

1) General vocabulary :
A description (N): A viewer :
To describe (V)( R):
A consumer = a purchaser = a buyer: To represent = to show:
To buy = to purchase = to consumer:

2) Useful vocabulary to describe and comment on the ad :

A petrol station: His hair looks nice:
A cooler: To glow (face):
To quench one’s thirst: Handsome:
A Petrol pump: To be enchanted = delighted
To wear ≠ to carry: Smart = elegant:
Casual clothes ≠formal clothes Clothes:
A suit: To look laid-back=relaxed
A tie spotted with: Cheerful:
A shirt: Happy (adj) → ( nom) happiness:
To smile: Soft drink≠ alcoholic drinks:
Smiling: Fizzy/sparkling:
A sign: Drinks=beverages:
To float:
To look:
3) Useful vocabulary to talk about the slogan, the caption and the informative details :

Thirst: To signal that:

To be dotted with: To make a pause:
A map: To be mesmerized by:
To be off to: An enchantment = a spell= an incantation=
A fresh start: To be under the spell of :
To signal someone to do: To enchant (V Trans):
4) Where does the action take place? What makes you say that? Give a clue
(indice):

5) Pick out (relevez) words and their compounds that are repeated, write them
down in the grid and say if they are nouns or verbs:

Nouns verbs How many times?

6) Draw conclusions: what impression do you get through these repetitions?

7) What information does this text give?

 8) Lay out:

a) Introduction: ( type of document, where, what is it about?):

This document is an ……………. .:

This ………………. deals with/ is about (nature du document):
The action/ scene takes place in (lieu où se déroule l’action/ la scène):
Another picture is inserted in ................................................ of the ad:

b) The description itself (what can you see?): voir 2)

Flashy: the advertiser uses …………………. colours.

c) Your comment on the description: voir vocabulaire 2)

d) The slogan, the caption and the informative details:

What does the caption say? The caption says: “ …………………………………..”

What is the slogan of this ad? The slogan is: “………………………………………….”

e) Your comment on the different texts: voir vocabulaire 3) + 5), 6), 7) .

To aim at ( + V –ing) : To signal that + proposition.
To mean that + proposition.
To suggest that + proposition.

9) Now it’s your turn to write a description of the ad: Be careful on the tense you
are using: Use the present BE –ing!

10) Valeur du présent BE –ing :

J’utilise le present BE –ing pour parler d’une action en cours de d…r….u….e….e….t. Je

f...c.....l.....s.... mon regard (ou je fais un zoom avant) sur cette action. Quand je décris,
j’utilise tout le temps le ................................. ............................... .
 11) What are the words referring to the notion of place, in the text in the foreground?
quote the text?

This document is an ………………….. published in 1939 . This ad …………with the

well-known/ ………………………, American, soft ……………… , Coca-Cola. The scene
…………………… place in a petrol station where they sell the ………………. beverage.

In the ……………………………. , there is a ……………………… that says: “Thirst

stops here” and a text. The caption sounds like a promise. The informative
………………….. are about where and why you can/may …………….. a bottle of coke.
The words referring to the notion of ……………………. are: “road”, “maps”,
“……………..” , “everywhere”. The words expressing the reason for buying bottles of
Coca-Cola are: “to pause”, “a pause”, “the pause” “refreshes”, “to …………….
yourself and be off to a fresh start”. These words are repeated like the words of a
…………………. ………………………. /enchantment. The text is like an incantation
which mesmerizes you. Actually, I think that the man is ……………. the spell of the
Coca-Cola bottles.
Another picture is ………………………. in the ………………… right-hand
………………… of the ad. ………………….. the picture, there is another caption. It
shows where and says why you can buy a bottle of coke: “inviting you to pause…
refresh”. This picture represents a kind of …………………… where you can buy Coca-
Cola bottles. The …………… signals you to go in to drink a Coke.

In the ………………. of the ad, I ………….. see a man wearing/ dressed in/ …………….
clothes/ a suit/. He is wearing a dark …………., /…………….. with yellow …………. /
with yellow spots on it. His shirt is …………….. and his jacket is orange. The advertiser
uses flashy/ bright colours. His hair looks nice. He is handsome and elegant/
………………../. He is ………………………… four little bottle of Coke in his hands. He
looks very ………………………… / happy/ enchanted, because he is smiling to the
/viewer/us/. He is showing his white teeth. Therefore, to my mind, the ad is aimed at
young, healthy and handsome people.

In the background, on his left, there is a red ………………… with a slogan, “Drink
Coca-Cola”, written on it. It is full of bottles/There are many/ plenty of/ bottles in it.
……………………….. the cooler, I can see two petrol ……………………. . It suggests
that you can also buy Coca-Cola bottles in petrol ……………………………. .

In the …………. -right hand corner, I can see a red circle with the ………………….. in
it. “Coca-Cola” is written in big, white colours and “drink” in yellow, capital letters. The
advertiser wants the consumer ………… buy bottles of Coke. The logo is foregrounded!

In my opinion, the ad means that…/ suggests that ……...

………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………….