I can appreciate that advertising is a difficult job. In today's cost-conscious society, people will invariably gravitate towards the cheaper end of the market for their stuff. To that end, companies have to think smart and come up with slogans and statistics which prove their product is the best choice for the consumer.
Of course the flip-side is that companies must also put a certain spin on their research and data, to ensure their product is shown in the best possible light. I'm sure many millions are spent each year proving the quality of their product, so if the results they get aren't exactly what they hoped for, they'll need to massage the data slightly to get what they want out of it.
There's an advert on at the mo for ink cartridges, specifically a particular company (can't remember which one) and how their products are much more efficient and use less ink that their competitors. They fanfare this fact with a "You could save up to £75 a year on ink" slogan on the advert, suffixed with the obligatory asterisk. Usually, such asterisks lead you to some tiny text elsewhere on the screen detailing how many people were asked, how many printers were used, etc, to give you a better indication of the scope of the research.
However...the disclaimer on this advert basically said "Based on 1500 pages of text and photos. Results may vary"
Er, "Results may vary"? Isn't that just another way of saying "You could end up with any old results. We haven't got a Scooby Doo what'll happen"?
How this had got through whatever watchdog or governing body manages these matters is beyond me. It's like an advert saying "If you drink this product, you'll live 'til you're a million*" then putting elsewhere "* Your lifespan may vary". They've literally made up the results, yet qualified it by saying "Well, it might not pan out exactly the same for you, in which case, tough shit"
If this is tolerable in our great British media, I see no reason why the general public can't use it on CV's or personal ads:
"Male, 35yo, ripped like a prize fighter, hung like a baby elephant, seeks pneumatic, improbably-breasted librarian for rutting *"
* Actual rippedness and cock length may vary.
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