COMMERCIAL vs. ADVERTISEMENT

Good morning.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Last Wednesday we received the following question from Olga, related to the Daily Vitamin about Advertisement.

Is a commercial the same as an advertisement?
Olga

As we said last Wednesday, an advertisement is a notice, picture or film telling people about a product, job or service; it's a paid public promotion of some product or service.

A commercial is an audio or video advertisement, usually presented on television, radio or in a movie theatre.

So, advertisement is more generic; anything that promotes a product or service to be sold is an advertisement. However, a commercial has moving pictures or sound; a commercial is advertising on the radio or television.

Example 1:
I'm going to put an advertisement in the local newspaper in order to sell my car.

Example 2:
I don't like to watch commercials on the television, and it seems like every day there are more and more.

NOTE: Commercial CANNOT be the translation of the Spanish noun comercial. 

Spanish: Es el comercial que más ventas ha hecho este mes.

English: He's the salesperson who has made the most sales this month.

If you have any questions about today's Daily Vitamin, please post them in the Daily Vitamin Plus! forum section on our website.

Have a nice day.