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Advertising informs consumers about new products available on the market. It gives us information about everything from shampoo to toothpaste to computers and cars. But there is one serious problem with this. The “Information” is actually very often “misinformation”. It tells us the products’ benefits but hides their disadvantages.

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According to Michael Swan in Practical English Usage:

Unfortunately, it is not possible to give useful general rules in this area: the choice of structure often depends on the particular expression.

Please let me know about this particular expression: is it OK to use possessive 's with products?

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  • 3
    Yes. See Do things use apostrophe for indicating possessive?
    – Alan Carmack
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 15:29
  • 2
    Yes, the products' benefits=the benefits of the products.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 15:52
  • You could also just use "product benefits" as a Noun adjunct. In your example, the 's is describing properties, not possession.
    – user3169
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 16:24
  • 1
    Yes, of course. What research did you do before coming to ELL?
    – BillJ
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 16:24
  • @BillJ: I saw some grammar references such as Grammar in Use.
    – Mori
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 16:40

1 Answer 1

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Yes, the benefits of the product = the product's benefits. The disadvantage of the product=the product's disadvantages

No need for plural, as it is a general statement about a product.

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    Actually, in this case, I think the writer is speaking about products in general, so the plural is appropriate.
    – stangdon
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 16:01

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