Thursday 10 October 2013

Truth in Advertising

This isn't so much about writing as something that caught my attention.

I have long been a proponent of truth in advertising.  I was watching Cash Cab the other day, when an advert came on for a dating site.  One of their claims was that people who used the site were three times more likely to find a partner than those who don't.   Almost instantly I found a interesting flaw in that claim, given that the human race survived for thousands of years without dating web sites. After all, most (>50%) people find a partner eventually. Since the advertisers don't qualify the statement, their claim means that more than 150% (=3*50%) of their customers find a partner.  That is very impressive indeed.  Maybe 75% of their customers end up with more than two partners.

No wonder I ignore most TV ads, muting the TV, leaving the room to do a quick chore or even changing channels.