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It makes me insanely irritated when people purposely lie to make themselves look better. Not by making an innocent exaggeration, but a real, quantitative lie.
It is when they say "more than" X amount of something to imply an abundance of stuff or "less than" to imply something scarce, exotic and rare.
Here's an example from an article from examiner.com:
"...the TechArt Magnum (a car based on the design of the Porsche Cayenne but with less than 500 in production)..."
The article elaborates on how this car is so exotic that less than 500 are in production.
Then, in the next paragraph it tries to explain the incredible success of this car:
"With more than 500 produced units, the Magnum is the most successful model in the 20-year history of TechArt."
Wait a second...
Didn't the author just tell me the production number was less than 500? Or are these numbers just made up to make the car look splendid in every situation?
What if it was actually 496? Would they still say "over 500" to give the impression of high production? And if the number was actually 517, would they still claim a production of "less than 500" to suggest a rare car?
What really irritates me, is that people who use these phrases are trying to pass these numbers off as facts, when they have no basis in reality whatsoever. They are deliberately trying to con me, and it's not only marketing people who do this...
What really irritates me, is that people who use these phrases are trying to pass these numbers off as facts, when they have no basis in reality whatsoever. They are deliberately trying to con me, and it's not only marketing people who do this...
You've hit the nail squarely on the head. Unfortunately, it's not even remotely possible to snap one's fingers and make all the lying (excuse me; I meant to say advertising) disappear.
Always remember the wise words of Mark Twain...
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
It makes me insanely irritated when people purposely lie to make themselves look better. Not by making an innocent exaggeration, but a real, quantitative lie.
It is when they say "more than" X amount of something to imply an abundance of stuff or "less than" to imply something scarce, exotic and rare.
Here's an example from an article from examiner.com:
"...the TechArt Magnum (a car based on the design of the Porsche Cayenne but with less than 500 in production)..."
The article elaborates on how this car is so exotic that less than 500 are in production.
Then, in the next paragraph it tries to explain the incredible success of this car:
"With more than 500 produced units, the Magnum is the most successful model in the 20-year history of TechArt."
Wait a second...
Didn't the author just tell me the production number was less than 500? Or are these numbers just made up to make the car look splendid in every situation?
What if it was actually 496? Would they still say "over 500" to give the impression of high production? And if the number was actually 517, would they still claim a production of "less than 500" to suggest a rare car?
What really irritates me, is that people who use these phrases are trying to pass these numbers off as facts, when they have no basis in reality whatsoever. They are deliberately trying to con me, and it's not only marketing people who do this...
Ah, weasel language. Ads are full of it.
At first glance I thought there were two different cars, but man it's even stupider than I thought! I was thinking that the writer was selling one car and using its less than 500 copies as a selling point, and then turning around and using the opposite (more than 500 copies) as a selling point for a different car. A weasely practice for sure. But to use the two mutually exclusive selling points for the same car, in the same article.. man that's beyond stupid.
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