2015개정 영어1 YBM(박) 3과 본문

영어1 YBM박 3과 본문.hwp

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3 - The High School Debate Show: Product Placement

 

Moderator: Welcome to The High School Debate Show! Today's debate topic is product placement. The resolution is "Product placement should be banned from television shows." For your information, product placement is a form of advertising that involves inserting products in movies or TV programs with the intention of promoting the products or brands. While proven to be an effective way to advertise products, product placement has pros and cons, stirring arguments over whether or not it should be kept under control. Now we will hear the main arguments from both sides.

 

Team Haneul: We argue that product placement in TV shows should be banned. We maintain our position in order to defend the rights of the general public, mainly television viewers, who are also product consumers. Product placement does not extend benefits to the general public but interferes with their interests. In this light, we offer three arguments against product placement―the quality of the shows, the deprived choice of viewers, and the problem of invisible marketing costs.

Our first point in argument is that product placement defeats the very purpose of TV shows, especially those in dramatic forms. The primary purpose of dramas is to deliver a story, through which meaningful messages on society and the people living in it are delivered. Viewers watch dramas planning to take their stories seriously and respond to the messages they deliver. Product placement, on the other hand, aims to sell products. These competing goals clash on the screen. With random commercial brands popping out to steal the focus from the plot, the show quality suffers.

A hero in a K-drama was seen to take both his hands off the wheel while driving a car and kiss a girl in the passenger seat. It was a product placement promoting an automatic pilot function of a new car. The absurdity of the scene, totally out of the context, ruined what emotional sincerity the characters retained up to that point. Who could take a drama seriously when it is obviously more interested in selling products than in telling truthful stories?

 

Our second point is that product placement doesn't give viewers a choice. Unlike commercials during breaks, there is no way for the viewer to avoid product placement. The viewer is not given a choice over whether to watch it or not. Product placement is advertising "embedded" in the program. It is integrated in the show, meaning that it is not possible to turn off the TV or switch the channel to avoid it.

Our last point is that product placement is enormously expensive and costs companies that use it a lot of money. These days, Korean TV shows have a global reach that hits billions of people, so inserting products in them has become costly. In the end, the extra marketing costs for product placement are added to the product's consumer price, with the products promoted by product placement becoming more expensive.

Based on these points, we believe that product placement should be banned from all media, but at a minimum from TV shows.

 

Moderator: Thank you for your excellent presentation. Now we're going to hear from the opposing side, Team Bada.

 

Team Bada: We, as the opposing team, are going to argue that product placement should not be banned. We also prepared three supporting arguments―the production funding in the new media environment, the better quality of program content, and other benefits of product placement in context. Unlike Team Haneul, we would like to approach the issue from a slightly different perspective, taking content creators and product companies into consideration.

 

First, product placement is inevitable in the age of the new media environment. Today many people enjoy programs through mobile streaming services and video downloads. The profit share from TV commercials is constantly declining, and production companies and broadcasting networks are compensating for the loss by attracting more product placements. From an idealistic point of view, the storytelling of TV dramas should not be interrupted by commercial advertising. From a realistic point of view, however, it is product placement that brings the programs to viewers.

Second, product placement does not harm but actually ensures the quality of TV shows. The "quality" of a TV show is not only about storytelling. Today's media content creation is nothing like writing a novel. Nowadays, high-quality media content requires a lot more elements such as expensive computer graphics, experienced directors, and even hallyu stars, but never can traditional funding support the increased cost. Such high-quality content can only be achieved with product placement.

Product placement ruins the story only when it fails. When properly done, it may actually enhance the quality of sponsored programs. For instance, in a K-drama about a blind girl's romance, there was a scene in which she applied lipstick on her own. It was a product placement sponsored by a cosmetic company, but the scene was also essential to illustrate the girl's character―independent, attractive, and wealthy. Not only was the scene the talk of the town for breaking a media stereotype of blind people, but it also succeeded in establishing the character in the story.

 

Our last point is that product placement is helpful because it shows how the product is used in real life situations. Suppose that I wanted to buy a skirt, but I couldn't find one exactly to my taste. While watching a drama, I saw an actress wearing a skirt with a design that I had always wanted. In this case, product placement helped me understand what I wanted by providing more information in context on a product I wanted to buy. This also explains how K-dramas introduce Korean products to foreign consumers, which often results in global shopping sprees. For example, a recent drama that became a huge hit in China was sponsored by a ginseng company. The hero was frequently seen to drink ginseng extract from a small pouch. The product became so popular among Chinese people that it instantly went out of stock. With hallyu contents spreading all over the world, Korean products are being introduced to global consumers through product placement.

Based on these points, we argue that product placement should not be banned.

 

Moderator: Thank you for your presentation. Now that we've heard from both teams, we are going to have a free debate session.