It’s no secret that the general population is not that great with numbers. Back in 1988, a book called Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences brought to light the general deficit in mathematical competency of modern society (not that it was any better in the past). There probably isn’t any cure for this. It’s just human nature that we’re best with pictures, then words, then numbers.
The question is, where do we draw the line in advertising about making these pieces agree with each other. Sure, we’re used to seeing pictures of a vacation resort with gorgeous bikini-clad women and knowing that we’re just as likely to run into a mid-50’s couple there with their kids while we’re drinking our tropical drinks with umbrellas. But what about an ad that’s not as cliché, where we’re confronted with a numerically accurate but visually skewed ad?
That’s just what I spotted recently while watching Hulu. The HP “Peackocks” ad for HP inks is an attempt by HP to counter the popularity of third-party ink cartridges. Ink refills are the most profitable part of the inkjet printer business, and HP wants to defend this profit center by pointing out that its authentic cartridges provide up to 65% more prints than third-party alternatives. Without reviewing the data, I’m comfortable believing that this is a true claim. I’ll trust HP for that.
Here’s my issue. Their ads use a big colorful peacock (with a tail of printouts) to represent HP inks and a more drab one to represent the third party ones. They also use a two stacks of printouts. In both cases, the visual representation of the HP version is approximately 200% bigger, not 60%. Yes, HP is including the actual percentage difference in the text, but the visual is incredibly misleading. How many consumers are going to stop to analyze the images? I’d say very few. The fact of the matter is that a stack of 65% more pages just isn’t as visually impressive as one three times as large.
Is the peacock on the right only 65% bigger? Not a chance.
I can believe the "up to 65% more" that HP is claiming with its text.
Which is more powerful, the text or the image? The stack on the right is 3 times as tall as the one on the left!
So, are real numbers next to fictitious visuals fair game, or deceptive advertising? I’ll leave it up to you to judge, but until there’s a consensus, try to keep those math skills in shape!
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