Describe an advertisement that caught your attention.
A card about one advert — on a billboard, a bus, a video before a clip, or the radio. You do not need to admire it; an advert that annoyed or puzzled you can make an equally strong answer.
The task card
Describe an advertisement that caught your attention.
You should say:
- where you saw or heard it
- what it was advertising
- what it showed or said
and explain why it caught your attention.
Now say it yourself
Record your own two minutes on this card and have it transcribed and marked against the Speaking criteria. Practising is free; the band estimate is part of Pro.
Record my answerHow long you have
- 1 minute
Preparation
The examiner hands you the card, paper and a pencil. Make notes — a few words per cue point, never sentences.
- 1–2 minutes
Your long turn
Speak until the examiner stops you at two minutes. Finishing early is the most common self-inflicted problem in Part 2.
- 1–2 questions
Rounding off
The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions, then moves straight into the Part 3 discussion on the same theme.
Part 2 takes three to four minutes in total. The whole Speaking test runs 11 to 14 minutes across three parts, and Part 3 that follows lasts four to five minutes.
How to approach this card
Start with where you came across it, because context explains why you noticed it at all: a poster you passed every morning, an advert that interrupted a video. Then say what was being sold — the type of product is enough; you do not need the brand.
Describe the advert itself briefly and visually: the image, the slogan, the music, the one moment people talked about. Fifteen or twenty seconds is plenty — this is the same trap as retelling the plot of a film.
The final bullet is where the band is decided. Analyse the technique: it was funny, it surprised you, it showed a situation you recognised, it was everywhere for a month. A strong answer also says whether it actually worked on you — did you buy anything, or just remember the advert?
Avoid general complaints about advertising; that discussion belongs in Part 3. Here, stay with one advert and your reaction to it.
Model answer
Speak your own answer first. Examiners are trained to spot memorised speeches and mark them down — use this to study structure, pacing and naturalness, never to recite.
Show the model answer
The advert I want to describe was a poster campaign for a second-hand furniture shop, which I saw at the bus stop outside my office for most of last winter. What made it unusual was that the furniture talked. Each poster was just a photo of one old piece of furniture against a plain yellow background, with a short line in a speech bubble. The first one I noticed was a battered leather armchair saying, 'Three families have sat on me. I'm not tired yet.' A few weeks later it was replaced by a wooden kitchen table: 'I've survived forty years of homework. Your laptop doesn't scare me.' At the bottom there was only the shop's name and the line 'Pre-loved, still going.' Why did it catch my attention? I think there were three things going on. First, it was funny, but in a quiet, tongue-in-cheek way — you'd smile rather than laugh, which is perfect for people standing at a bus stop at eight in the morning. Second, it was a series. Once you'd seen two, you started looking out for the next one, and I genuinely overheard people at the stop arguing about which was the best. And third — this is what impressed me — it turned the weakness of second-hand furniture into the selling point. Instead of saying 'cheap', it said 'tough', which is a much prouder thing to be. Did it work on me? Embarrassingly, yes. About two months in, I went to the shop just to have a look, and came home with a desk I definitely hadn't planned to buy. So whatever I like to think about my resistance to advertising, a talking armchair beat it fairly easily.
Why this works: The advert is described quickly and visually — the yellow background, two quoted lines — so most of the time goes on the final bullet, which is analysed in three clearly signposted steps ('First… Second… And third'). The honest admission that the advert worked answers a question many candidates avoid, and the self-mocking close sounds like conversation rather than a prepared ending. Study the analysis, then build it around an advert you actually remember.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- a catchy slogan
A short, memorable phrase; the standard collocation.
- to catch my eye
For something visual you notice suddenly, such as a poster.
- to grab people's attention
Natural alternative to the card's own wording; avoids repeating it.
- the target audience
The group of people an advert is designed for.
- to stick in my head
Informal; used for tunes or lines you cannot forget.
- tongue-in-cheek
Humorous and not meant seriously; useful for adverts that joke about themselves.
- to see through something
To recognise a persuasion trick; useful if you were not convinced.
Part 3 discussion
After your long turn the examiner moves into a four to five minute discussion on the same theme, working from two related discussion topics with about three questions each. The first stays close to your own experience; the second widens out. Answer with reasons and examples, not one-line replies.
- 1Why do some advertisements stay in people's memories for years?
- 2Should advertising aimed at children be more strictly controlled?
- 3Is it acceptable for an advertisement to exaggerate what a product can do?
- 4How has social media changed the way companies advertise?
- 5Do people trust recommendations from online personalities more than traditional adverts?
- 6Would public spaces be better without billboards?
More on how this family of cards is discussed: Media, technology and culture. Model answers for Part 3: Part 3 questions and answers.