English Language & Usage Asked on May 10, 2021
This question is from the Korean high school English test. I wonder if the summary is a proper (ex English composition, collocation or grammar) in the box below.
[Question]
Many advertisements cite statistical surveys. But we should be cautious because we usually do not know how these surveys are conducted. For example, a toothpaste manufacturer once had a poster that said, “More than 80% of dentists recommend Smiley Toothpaste.” This seems to say that most dentists prefer Smiley Toothpaste to other brands. But it turns out that the survey questions allowed the dentists to recommend more than one brand, and in fact another competitor’s brand was recommended just as often as Smiley Toothpaste! No wonder the UK Advertising Standards Authority ruled in 2007 that the poster was misleading and it could no longer be displayed. A similar case concerns a wellknown cosmetics firm marketing a cream that is supposed to rapidly reduce wrinkles. But the only evidence provided is that “76% of 50 women agreed.” But what this means is that the evidence is based on just the personal opinions from a small sample with no objective measurement of their skin’s condition. Furthermore, we are not told how these women were selected. Without such information, the “evidence” provided is pretty much useless. Unfortunately, such advertisements are quite typical, and as consumers we just have to use our own judgment and avoid taking advertising claims too seriously.
[Summary Box]
As shown in the case of the above toothpaste and cream, statistics from advertising phrases might not have a bare chance of low credibility, which eventually lead to aggravating customers.
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