The Statistics Trick

Ads love statistics because numbers feel objective. "9 out of 10 dentists" hides the sample size, the question asked, and whether the tenth dentist actually disagreed.

Another common trick is the relative vs absolute confusion. "Reduces risk by 50 percent" sounds dramatic until you see the actual numbers. Suppose the risk drops from 2 in 10,000 to 1 in 10,000. That is a 50 percent relative reduction — but only a 0.01 percent absolute change.