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Previous: Amex payment line | Main | Next: PBS online store merchandising
January 27, 2005 12:22 AM
Broken: Math in ad banner
Julian Smith writes:
I found this ad on a website I was on. Obviously the creators of this ad dropped high school math. "Forty-two percent less" is more than half.
I see the math mistake.
The left panel says a dropout earns 42% less than a grad. Thus, for each grad that earns $50K, a dropout somehwere is earning $29K (NOT $21K - see below**).
The right panel then talks about a dropout earning less than half of a grad. But $29K is MORE than half of $50K.
** dropouts earn $29K
It does not say dropouts earn "...42% OF a grad..."
If it did, dropouts would be earning $21K.
It says "...42% LESS THAN a grad..."
So 50 - (42% of 50) = 29
So $29K is 42% less than $50K.
The pic is accurate too, since he has plausibly retained 29/50ths of his stuff.
The only error in the ad is the "...if you earn less than half the salary of a grad..."
The moral message is:
Drop out. Sucking at math still gets you into advertizing.
Ahh....I see it now. I should have read it more carefully. Thank you for not spamming me on a dumb question.
This is almost as broken as my mom when she goes to sales. 50% off + 20% off at the register does not equal 70% off. As Barbie said, "Math is hard."
And his backpack.
To me, it looks like the dropout has plenty of disposable income and has also acquired some cool futuristic fashion sense.
You know I was just thinking that given the choice I'd reather have half an outfit and an ipod than a whole outfit and no ipod. I guess he felt the same way
I think the greyed-out / dotted area isn't his missing clothing, it's part of his sporty ensemble! So that he looks good while toting around his overpriced iPod.
No, I'd say he's going to be feeling that income % hit when he starts buying the .MP3 files or investing in Broadband and security software to make his iPod complete..
Anybody else notice that the ad was sponsored by the US Army? Kink of creepy, an employer that really can take that second leg right off, just as illustrated. IIRC, they also pay about 42% less than any equivalent civilian job.
Lot's of truth behind the scenes here.
yea i guess being allowed to kill people is worth a pay cut...
its probably better than putting up with annoying coworkers for the rest of your life and not being able to do anything about it...
If they were really trying to get the point across, you'd think they'd get rid of the backpack and ipod. Because when you make "less than half" (hee) you supposedly wouldn't be able to afford those particular items, though chances are you would be able to afford a whole shirt and an entire pair of pants.
T caption from the submitter reads "...42 is more than half." Perhaps you'd like to explain that one?
I've actually noticed this too but I forgot about it until just now. And does it matter that he has an ipod?
Did anyone else notice that the only shoulder-strap holding his backpack on his body was gone? I think that means his backpack is floating in mid-air. That floating will also cost him. I think I found something else that was broken. :)
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Previous: Amex payment line | Main | Next: PBS online store merchandising
even if the math is wrong, the pictures right, he still has his bag, so id say 50% of his clothes counts as 42% of his overall belongings.
Posted by: Dragon at January 27, 2005 12:38 AM