Now With Added Stats
Cosmetic Ads on TV are perennial science-blog fodder*, but I have noticed something new on the ads on (British) television. Statistics. Not simply “10 times smoother” but things like “10 times smoother, 15 women asked, 60% agreed”.
I’m pretty sure this must be a new regulation as it’s appeared on all these ads pretty much at the same time. Also, it’s not doing any of the advertisers any favours. The low numbers involved, and the often ludicrous “agreement level” seem like foot shooting** in extremis. I have seen as low as “55% agreed”, surely not statistically significant with such small numbers of people asked. Perhaps, as this is from a group of people who are experts on the smoothness scale (viz ladies***), that extra 5% is all the more certain. Or something.
I can’t find any info about this being imposed on the advertisers, so any info on this would be welcome.
* Try googling Nutrileum, go on. Apart from the sites advertising the product, it’s only on a couple of sneery blogs.
** In the common sense of the phrase, for all you pedants insisting on the original meaning (of deliberately causing small “accident” to avoid impending doom)
*** bless them