277% Better
December 29th, 2007 by Bob Bly
A TV commercial for Zone Pilates said the product is “277% more effective.”
This begs the question: 277% more effective than what?
Other Pilates machines? Ordinary Pilates with no equipment? Sit-ups? Going to the gym? Richard Simmons?
The rule in writing is that when you compare something, you have to say what you are comparing it to.
My rewrite: “Zones Pilates are 277% more effective than doing ordinary Pilates.”
Now, isn’t that better?
Or do you think implied in the statement “277% more effective” is the idea that it is more effective than ordinary Pilates — and that it’s so obvious, it doesn’t need to be stated?
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Advertising. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 29th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Is there such a thing as “277%”? I’m no statistician, but whenever I see a percentage larger than 100% I think “overblown; not accurate.”
December 30th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Your rewrite is better, but I’d still wonder to myself how they arrived at 277%. Even if the product was compared to something in order to arrive at it, there’s still the question of what methodology they used to determine it. 277% sounds like a number they yanked out of their…out of thin air.
December 30th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Bob, I agree with you 10,000%, as a skeptical shopper/copywriter. However, the interesting thing is that, although we are becoming more educated consumers, a large percentage of the average consumer market is not shopping with a writer’s or marketer’s eye, which is why such messages work over and over again. We want greater, bigger, faster, better, stronger, new and improved stuff. Something that is more than 100% is off the chart. “And that’s what I want!” says Joe the consumer. And does it really matter what exactly it’s 277% more effective than. It need only be “greater” in some sense. So, when Joe is shopping and has to choose between two otherwise equal products, the winner will probably be the product that says 277% more effective, which is all the manufacturer wants; it doesn’t need to make sense 100%.
This maneuver does not work so well with certain, incredulous markets, like vegan and organic shoppers, the mommy market, and pharmaceutical customers, where purchase decisions are based primarily or solely on logical and concrete messages. Nevertheless, with a general product, which Pilates has become, it does not matter so much, right now.
A mixed blessing, I say. A mixed blessing.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:28 am
I would agree with you that making a comparison sounds better and makes more sense. However…when considering the prospect, who is likely desperate for some sort of weight loss result after buying so many other products with no success, just flashing a huge number like that may be enough to make the sale.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I think it’s obvious. But I also think the average member of the public is so math-illiterate that it doesn’t matter. The entire concept eludes them.
January 7th, 2008 at 9:32 am
It needs to be stated. You added four words and made your point crystal clear and the copy stronger. Why risk misinterpretation or confusion? Four words. It’s a no-brainer.
January 8th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Of course the comparison is improved — and given meaning — by saying what it is that Zone Pilates is being compared to.
But even with the object of comparison identified, the term “more effective” is still meaningless. Do you know what it means? Faster time to a desired result? More weight lost? More inches taken off? And which body part?
I agree with Stacey that it sounds like like hype to tell the consumer this is lots better than some unstated something else.
But if you’re going to make the specific claim of 277% more effective, you need something specific to back it up. That’s not just good copy, I think it’s the law.
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Hahah good point. Throw out a number to the sheeple and it confuses them. ALl they care is that it sounds good.
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