In a sense, it is semantics. It’s mathematically wrong but it’s correct in terms of messaging. If you say that prices increased by 100%, then decreased by 50%, to a lot of people it sounds like they are still higher than the original.
It’s sort of like how the 1/3 pound burger failed in America because people thought it was smaller than the equally priced 1/4 pound burger.
People are dumb is the point.
And if there is one competency Trump has, it’s communicating to dumb people.
It might be correct in a technical sense but it’s first and foremost misleading. If something costs $150 and the seller offers for the price to come down 50%, you’d rightfully expect the price to be $75, not $100. The seller could argue that it’s some 50% markup being removed but would you believe that to be a genuine explanation, or that the seller is trying to mislead or scam you?
Mostly yes, but I take issue with the statement that it’s “correct in terms of messaging”. In short, I’d say that it’s technically correct but incorrect in terms of messaging as pretty much everyone would understand the wrong message.
But being misleading is very much in character for Trump.
Had a guy swear up and down that 2/3 is larger than 3/4. This was brought up because he was telling me he was teaching his son math. Guy was at least 45+.
A&W tried it in the 80’s and apparently more than half the people in the focus group thought the burger was smaller because 3 is less than 4. They renamed it the 3/9th burger so dumbass Americans wouldn’t feel like they were being ripped off. Americans have been leading the world in dumbassery for the decades at this point.
In a sense, it is semantics. It’s mathematically wrong but it’s correct in terms of messaging. If you say that prices increased by 100%, then decreased by 50%, to a lot of people it sounds like they are still higher than the original.
It’s sort of like how the 1/3 pound burger failed in America because people thought it was smaller than the equally priced 1/4 pound burger.
People are dumb is the point.
And if there is one competency Trump has, it’s communicating to dumb people.
but like he could just have said it’s X times cheaper
It might be correct in a technical sense but it’s first and foremost misleading. If something costs $150 and the seller offers for the price to come down 50%, you’d rightfully expect the price to be $75, not $100. The seller could argue that it’s some 50% markup being removed but would you believe that to be a genuine explanation, or that the seller is trying to mislead or scam you?
I’m pretty sure we’re saying the same thing
Mostly yes, but I take issue with the statement that it’s “correct in terms of messaging”. In short, I’d say that it’s technically correct but incorrect in terms of messaging as pretty much everyone would understand the wrong message.
But being misleading is very much in character for Trump.
It’s also not correct even in a technical sense. For what that’s worth. It’s a made up number to sound really big and impressive, even if it is not true in any sense.
Republicans have consciously targeted a fifth grade educational level for decades now. Trump’s innovation was targeting a third grade level.
I’ve never heard of this. What? The average American doesn’t know how fractions work? This country never ceases to amaze me.
In the early 1980s, the A&W restaurant chain released a new hamburger to rival the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder.
Had a guy swear up and down that 2/3 is larger than 3/4. This was brought up because he was telling me he was teaching his son math. Guy was at least 45+.
A&W tried it in the 80’s and apparently more than half the people in the focus group thought the burger was smaller because 3 is less than 4. They renamed it the 3/9th burger so dumbass Americans wouldn’t feel like they were being ripped off. Americans have been leading the world in dumbassery for the decades at this point.
if anything, 3/9 would be more confusing to me, cuz now I have to “calculate” how much that actually is, as opposed to knowing the amount by heart