Although one might not think so from some of the criticism of it, advertising is essential to the kind of society in which people in the United Kingdom, and a very considerable proportion of the world at large, live. Advertising is necessary as a means of communicating with others, of telling them about the goods and services that are offered, and of which most of them would never get to hear at all if it were not for advertising. And advertising helps a great deal to promote a rising standard of living. In talking about advertising, one should not think only in terms of a commercial on television, or an advertisement in the newspapers or periodicals. In its widest sense, advertising includes a host of other activities such as packaging, shop displays and --in the sense of communication- even the spoken word of the salesman. After all, the roots of advertising are to be found in the market place. For many years it was thought that it was enough to produce goods and supply services. It is only more recently that it has become increasingly understood that the production of goods is a waste of resources unless those goods can be sold at a fair price within a reasonable time span. In the competitive society in which we live, it is essential that we go out and sell what we have to offer, and advertising plays an important role in this respect, whether selling at home or in export markets. Approximately 2 percent of the UK gross national product is spent on advertising. But it must not be thought that this advertising tries to sell goods to consumers who do not want them. Of course, advertising does try to attract the interest of the potential consumer, but if the article when purchased does not match up to the standards that the advertising suggests that it will, it is obviously exceedingly unlikely that the article will sell well. According to the text, advertising is important to ______.