Bank of America Speech Southwest winners, essays

How does advertising affect our decisions?
Thirty fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students, picked from approximately 600 Kern County students who had written classroom essays on that topic, made the finals of the annual Bank of America Essay and Speech Contest held May 8 at University Square, 2000 K St. As a second-time winner, Discovery Elementary School fifth-grader Annie Bardet joined an elite group. Sharing the winner’s platform with her were Thorner Elementary School fourth-grader Maveric Guzman and St. Francis Parish School sixth-grader Alice Verderber.
In their essay/speeches, students had to do research and use statistics to support their views. Each was also asked to call upon his or her own knowledge and experiences to convince judges and the audience how well they understood the topic.
Bardet said, “The printing press changed everything. Advertising appeared in English papers. Before long newspapers and magazines had you buying drugs that advertised they could cure everything.”
She finished off her winning speech by playing on a familiar advertising theme, “Writing this speech — three hours. Memorizing it for the contest — three days. Performing it in the Bank of America Speech Contest — priceless.”
Guzman had the crowd laughing out loud as he mimicked a radio disc jockey delivering a verbal ad. He informed the crowd they may “fall for gimmicks and propaganda since you will hear more than 1,600 ads a day. My grandmother who is 88 remembers a Pepsi ad she heard when she was only 12. That’s amazing.”
Sixth-grade champion Verderber was shocked by how much her peers are influenced by advertising.
“According to the Boston Globe, 60 percent of middle school age children have TVs in their bedrooms,” Verderber said. “That’s unbelievable to me. Our family has only one TV, and it only gets 20 channels. Last year, American companies spent $1 trillion on advertising. We are probably one of the greediest nations in the world.”
Bardet, Guzman and Verderber received $100 savings bonds from Bank of America. Francesca Moore, Lauren Clarksean and Grace Moore received $75 savings bonds for second place. By finishing third, Marcela Ayres, Ariella Goldstein and Prutha Mehta all received $50 savings bond awards.
The Bank of America Essay/Speech Contest is co-sponsored by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.
Contest finalists were:
Fourth grade
• First place: Maveric Guzman of Thorner Elementary School
• Second place: Francesca Moore of McAuliffe Elementary School
• Third place: Marcela Ayres of Our Lady of Perpetual Help School
Fifth grade
• First place: Annie Bardet of Discovery Elementary School
• Second place: Lauren Clarksean of St. Francis Parish School
• Third place: Ariella Goldstein of McAuliffe Elementary School
Sixth grade
• First place: Alice Verderber of St. Francis Parish School
• Second place: Grace Moore of Endeavour Elementary School
• Third place: Prutha Mehta of Reagan Elementary School

The Southwest Voice is publishing the winning three essays from Southwest students below.

Ba da ba ba bad
By Francesca Moore
Fourth Grade
McAuliffe Elementary School
“Zoom, Zoom.”
“Ba da ba ba ba ... I’m loving it!”
“Come hungry, leave happy.”
What do you think when you hear these words? Immediately, I think Mazda commercial, McDonald’s, and IHOP.
Advertising is all around us and impacts our daily decisions. From television commercials, catchy slogans, to radio and print advertisements, we cannot escape advertising. I believe advertising has an affect on our decisions.
According to the Encyclopedia Brittannica edition 1997, most historians believe that outdoor signs above shop doors were the first form of advertising. As early as 3000 B.C, the Babylonians, who lived in what is now Iraq, used specific pictures to advertise their stores because few people could read. For example, a bush indicated a wine shop and a boat advertised a shoemaker’s shop.
Advertising has grown through the years from signs to radio to television commercials to pop-up ads on the computer. We even see commercials when we go to the movies.
One reason why advertising affects our decisions is we want to know how we can have beautiful and clear skin like Kelly Clarkson, Lindsay Lohan, and Jessica Simpson. Seeing these celebrities on the Proactive commercial makes me think twice about using Clean and Clear. The celebrities all have beautiful skin, and it makes me want to buy Proactive so I can have skin just as beautiful and clear.
Another way advertising affects the decisions we make is that it shows us what products are available. For example, I saw a television commercial while I was watching “Smallville” that advertised the Wii. It showed that the Wii works with your television and you are able to play interactive sports. After seeing this commercial I wanted to buy the Wii for myself.
The affects of advertising on our decision-making is huge. It impacts every aspect of our lives. For example, if you are looking for a job, there are classified ads that detail what jobs are available. If you are looking for a new house there is the real estate section that shows what houses are available. Advertising is not only products, but services. Think about all the business cards left on your door for gardening and cleaning services.
Most importantly, we have to make the best decisions about our life without letting advertising impact every decision. For example, “Ba da ba ba ba ... I’m loving it.” We cannot love McDonald’s every day. According to the documentary “Super Size Me,” eating McDonald’s every day makes your body very ill. Also, we cannot buy everything we see being advertised. I cannot afford Proactive so I will continue to use Clean and Clear. The Wii will also have to wait until I get that Nintendo D.S.
“Giddyup, Giddyup 409 that brand new Chevy’s mine.”
According to www.reuters.com, a 2007 Super Bowl commercial costs $85,000 dollars for each second of broadcast time. This is $2.5 million for a 30-second commercial. Companies know that advertising affects our decisions and will pay to affect us. We need to make our decisions based on what we actually need and can afford, not what Lindsay Lohan uses.

Meeting advertising head on
By Ariella Goldstein
Fifth Grade
McAuliffe Elementary School
“HeadOn — apply directly to forehead,” and also, “No one can do what Countrywide can.”
I don’t like those words. Every time I hear those words I turn the channel so I can look for something more exciting to watch. These commercials have a negative affect on me. Sometimes advertising can get pretty annoying.
Advertising is a message designed to promote a product, a service, or an idea. Advertising goes back 2500 years. According to the 2001 World Book Encyclopedia, Babylonians were the first people to use advertising. According to www.wikipedia.com, ancient Egyptians, Romans, and the Greeks advertised on papyrus paper. At that time, people used symbols and pictures instead of letters. When the printing press was invented in the 15th and 16th centuries, people started to use letters. In the 17th century, advertisements appeared in newspapers in England.
In modern times the largest source of advertising is television. Businesses spend a lot of money to advertise their products and services. Food companies spend 75 percent of their budget on advertising, and toy companies spend 90 percent of their budget on advertising. Other sources of advertising are newspapers, magazines, radio, Internet, billboards, direct mail, and pop-up ads.
The first reason I think advertising affects our decisions is when they show us actual people who tried their product. I think this helps the company because they are proving to the audience that their product works. This has a positive effect on the person’s choice. The second reason I think advertising affects our decision is when a certain celebrity is placed in a commercial. I think this helps the product’s sales, because if it is a certain popular celebrity people will watch the commercial and listen to what the celebrity has to say. This has a positive affect on the person’s choice.
The third reason as to how advertising affects our decisions is by the frequency of Internet-based pop-up ads. Sometimes pop-up ads can get pretty annoying. When they pop up you can lose your train of thought or concentration. This has a negative affect on a person’s choice.
The fourth reason as to how advertising affects us is whether they should buy the product or not, or whether to vote for someone or not, or whether to go to a doctor or dentist. Ads make you unsure of your decision. This can have a negative affect on a person’s choice.
The fifth reason advertising affects our decision is by how frequently a commercial is on TV. For example, if you go to the store to buy something you will remember a product from the commercial and possibly buy it. This has a positive affect on a person’s decision.
The effect of advertising on your decision making is that it tries to make you do something or buy something, even if you don’t want to. I also think advertising affects our decision when a commercial compares two or more items.
Most importantly, advertisements try to influence you. According to Dave Goldstein at KERO, an advertisement tries to get you to see a certain point of view. Ads get you to consider options you never would have considered.
“HeadOn — apply directly to the forehead,” and also “No one can do what Countrywide can.”
I still don’t like these commercials, but advertisements influence me to do certain things, or buy a certain product.

By land and by air
By Prutha Mehta
Sixth Grade
Reagan Elementary School
Although we don’t realize it, we encounter many types of advertisement in our lives. Advertisement can come in different forms such as billboards, TV commercials, Internet ads, magazine ads, public relations, sponsorships, and many more. According to www.wowessays.com, one in every two teenagers gets influenced by advertisements. We can see advertisements on trucks, in hallways, airports, and even in the air.
Advertisement today is quite strong. Even children get influenced by it.One example is Heelys. When I first saw the TV commercial for Heelys, I said I had to have them. Today, I am an expert. Another example is the Wii. My brother said it was a system created by Nintendo and that we had to have it. He heard about it even before me and my mother heard about it.
One of the negative aspects of advertisement is that sometimes the customers waste their money. According to www.NPR.org, Hollywood spends almost $1 million each year on advertising. In a lot of cases they don’t get their money back.
Products look appealing on TV, but are not what they seem to be after the customer has purchased them. Examples of these products include cleaning products, clothing, toys, furniture, and other commercial items.
Advertisement can be dangerous. Examples of harmful advertisements include cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. Teenage minds especially are vulnerable to these kinds of products and will get attracted to slogans that say, “It’s cool,” or, “Everyone does it.” It’s this kind of advertisement that promotes such behavior.
Advertisement can affect our lives in a good way too. Even though a company’s main goal is profit, they are selling drugs and medicines that can help people immensely. Companies run their commercials for these medicines all day long so people are aware of what new medicines are available.
One form of advertisement is telemarketing. Telemarketing could be a useful tool in advertisement, but we could also get negatively influenced by them. People are relaxing in the afternoon, evening, or even having dinner when the phone rings. People go to answer it only to hear, “Is your mom home?”or, “Is the lady of the house home?”
It’s annoying! Although some people do think it is annoying, they could be missing out on a great opportunity.
According to: www.wikipedia.org, companies spend approximately $100 billion each year on advertisement — $100 billion each year! Some say it’s worth it, some don’t. Some people get so annoyed from advertisements today that they just refuse to pay attention to it. But positive or negative advertisement has become so powerful in society today that it is just impossible to get away from it. Almost every decision we make is influenced by advertising. Advertisement has been and always will be a part of our lives.

McAuliffe: The Southwest Voice

Bank of America Speech Southwest winners, essays