Describe an advertisement you remember well: IELTS Cue Card & Answers

Describe an advertisement you remember well

what the advertisement was for

where you saw it

what made it effective

and explain whether you bought the product

1 min prep · 1–2 min speaking

How to Structure Your 2-Minute Answer

~15s

Open — introduce the subject

Name who or what immediately. “I’d like to talk about…” Don’t pause looking for words.

~20s

Context — how you know it / background

Give a short frame of reference so the examiner understands your connection to the topic.

~35s

Description — concrete details

This is the core of your answer. Use specific examples, vivid language, and avoid vague generalities.

~40s

Why it matters — feelings or impact

Spend the most time here: give the reason and say how you felt.

~10s

Close — a brief reflection

One sentence to wrap up naturally. Avoid trailing off. “That’s why I’ll always remember…”

Part 3 — Follow-up Questions

Do you think there are too many advertisements today?
Should advertising aimed at children be controlled?
Why do companies pay famous people to appear in advertisements?

Sample Answer Band 6

Sample answers written by Hamza Ahmed (IELTS, TOEFL & PTE Tutor)

Band 6 sample answer

OK, I want to talk about one advertisement I saw on Instagram, maybe six months ago. It was for running shoes, a Brazilian brand, not a very famous one.

I saw it on my phone when I was in the bus going to my work in São Paulo. The video show a normal woman, not a model, running in Ibirapuera Park very early in the morning, and in the end she say that the shoes is made with recycled plastic from the ocean. And the price was more cheap than the big brands like Nike, maybe half.

Why it was effective? I think because of three reasons. First, I was already thinking to start running again, because I gain some weight after the pandemic. Second, the woman in the video look like a real person, like me, so I believed it more. And third, the recycled thing, I like this idea, it makes me feel I am doing something good for the environment when I buy.

So I bought them, the same day, on the website. They arrived after one week, and I was very happy in the beginning. They are very light and very comfortable, and the colour is nice, it's a green colour.

But honestly, after three months, the shoes started to break a little bit on the side. So now I am not sure if it was a good decision. I think they are good for walking but not very good for running a lot. But the advertisement was very good, I have to say, because I still remember it now.

Band notes: why this is Band 6

Fluency & Coherence (6): The speaker keeps going and covers every bullet, with simple organisation ("First... Second... And third"). Linking repeats ("and", "so", "because") and some sentences are loosely joined ("the recycled thing, I like this idea").
Lexical Resource (6): Enough vocabulary for the topic ("recycled plastic", "not a model"), but it is often repeated ("very" appears many times) and there are word-form errors: "more cheap" (cheaper), "thinking to start" (thinking of starting).
Grammatical Range & Accuracy (6): Mostly simple sentences, with frequent errors that do not block meaning: "The video show", "she say", "the shoes is made", "I gain some weight" (gained), "in the bus" (on the bus).
Pronunciation: Not assessable from text. The band assumes the speaker is understood without much effort.

Why this is Band 6, not Band 6.5: The answer is relevant and complete, but verb agreement and tense errors run through it. Fixing third-person "-s" and past tenses, and replacing two or three uses of "very", would move it up.

Part 3 sample answers (Band 6)

Q1. Do you think there are too many advertisements today? Yes, I think so. Everywhere you look there is advertisement, on the phone, on the street, even inside the apps for free games. Sometimes you watch a video of five minutes and there is three adverts. I think people are tired of this, and many people now pay for the version without adverts. Q2. Should advertising aimed at children be controlled? Yes, definitely. Children don't understand that the advert want to sell something, they think it is true. For example, adverts for sweets or toys with cartoon characters, children see it and then they cry to the parents. So I think the government should make some rules, maybe no adverts for unhealthy food in children programs. Q3. Why do companies pay famous people to appear in advertisements? Because people trust famous people, or they want to be like them. If a football player like Neymar use some product, the young people want to buy the same. It is expensive for the company, but they sell much more, so I think for them it is worth it.

Key Vocabulary

Hover any word to see how it is used in this answer.

recycled plastic not a model big brands I have to say a good decision

Useful Vocabulary for This Topic

These words and phrases appear in the band-graded sample answers above. Using varied vocabulary is one of the four IELTS speaking criteria.