Diamond
时间：2018-11-28 作者：英语课 分类：疯狂英语2003年
Diamond
“I love this woman!”----There’s a better way to do it, says the ad: Give her a diamond, or a 1)bunch of them, and she’ll love you back. Which makes me ask, “Why a diamond?” Why not a ruby 1 or an 2)emerald, or, what the 3)heck, a 4)toaster or a 5)kitten? Why did diamonds get to be the “Love and marriage” thing? Why, everywhere, do couples, who wish to declare their love, go out and pay big bucks 2 for diamonds? One reason we’re given is that diamonds are so 6)scarce. So, ah, is it true?
Donna: No.
Marketing 3 professor, Donna Bergenstock, points out their 7)scarcity 4 is a myth created long ago by DeBeers, the South African company that’s dug up most of the world’s diamonds.
Donna: There are billions of dollars of diamonds sitting in 8)vaults in London, in South Africa, that DeBeers specifically keeps off the market in order to 9)artificially raise the price of diamonds.
The supply’s so vast that if DeBeers hadn’t controlled the world market for decades, diamonds would be much cheaper.
Donna: A diamond really’s just a piece of 10)carbon. It’s a just a rock.
Advert 6: A diamond is forever.
So why is this rock a symbol of love? Because DeBeers told us it was. Since 1940, DeBeers’ brilliant ad campaign’s been convincing Americans that diamonds mean love.
Garfield: Unlike most advertising 7, people just completely bought it.
Bob Garfield, of Advertising Age Magazine, says it’s one of the best ad campaigns ever done.
Garfield: It created, out of whole cloth, the 11)notion that at your engagement, you must give your 12)intended a diamond.
But years of listening to this 13)propaganda has convinced us that giving diamonds is an age-old tradition. This is just a sales 14)pitch.
钻石代表我的心
“我爱她！”——有一个比大喊大叫更好的办法，广告上这么说：“送她一颗钻石，或一条钻链，她就会爱你”。这不禁让我想问：“为什么一定要送钻石呢？”为什么不送红宝石、绿宝石，或者，去他的，就送个烤面包机或小猫咪好了？为什么钻石象征着“爱和婚姻”？为什么各地的情侣宣布他们的爱情时，就会去花大把票子买钻石呢？我们听到的理由是：钻石太稀有了。所以说，啊哈，真是这样的吗？
唐娜：不是。
营销学教授唐娜·伯根斯多克指出“钻石稀有”是德比尔公司——一家挖掘出世界上大部分钻石的南非公司——在多年以前虚构出来的童话。
唐娜：在伦敦、南非的地下存放着价值亿万美元的钻石，德比尔公司有意不将它们投放市场，目的就是要人为地抬高钻石的价格。
钻石的销量很大，如果不是数十年来德比尔公司一直在控制着全球市场，钻石的价格可能会便宜得多。
唐娜：其实钻石就是一颗碳，就是一块石头而已。
广告：钻石恒久远.
可为什么这块石头成了爱的象征？因为德比尔公司告诉我们它是。自1940年以来，德比尔公司魅惑人心的广告深入美国人心，使人们认为钻石代表着爱。
嘉菲德：与大部分广告效果不同的是，人们全深信不疑。
《广告时代杂志》的鲍伯·嘉菲德说，这是有史以来最成功的广告宣传。
嘉菲德：它凭空地制造出一个概念：订婚时必须送给爱人一颗钻石。
多年来一直听到这种宣传，让我们相信了送钻石是一个历史渊源的传统。其实，这纯粹是个销售手段。
注释:
1) bunch [bQntF] n. 串
2) emerald [5emErEld] n. 绿宝石
3) heck [hek] n.地狱 What the heck! 去他的！
4) toaster [5tEJstE(r)] n. 烤面包机
5) kitten [5kitn] n. 小猫
6) scarce [skZEs] a. 稀有的
7) scarcity [5skZEsiti] n. 稀有
9) artificially [7B:ti5fiFEli] adv. 人为地
10) carbon [5kB:bEn] n. 碳
11) notion [5nEuFEn] n. 概念，观点
12) intended [in5tendid] n. 已经订婚的人
13) propaganda [7prCpE5^AndE] n. 宣传
14) pitch [pitF] n. 顶点
- She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
- On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。
- They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
- They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
- He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。
- The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
- The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。
- The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
- The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。
- The advert featured a dolphin swimming around a goldfish bowl.该广告的內容为一条在金鱼缸里游动的海豚。
- Please advert to the contents below.I believe you won't be disappointed.敬请留意后面的内容。相信您一定不会失望的。
- 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。