Ad claims with no facts to back them

CUTTING through the overwhelming marketing clutter which surrounds all of us takes inspiration. The ad for Timberland does just that because it is starkly simple.

Two other things which are striking about it: brand confidence and call to action.

Timberland is confident enough not to have to explain who it is or what its products are.

If you don’t instantly get it, then you’re not going to be swayed by the offer. And that offer – 50 percent off – is sure to get Timberland fans down to the nearest stockist. Orchid for Timberland. It is sad but true that because of our general lack of numeracy, any snake-oil salesperson can toss numbers at something without expecting to be challenged. My friend Nazir Alli, head of Sanral, loved to do this in the etoll saga.

But I am worried that so many good causes are in danger of doing themselves grievous harm by throwing about thumbsuck, unsubstantiated figures to support their arguments.

We had this a few years ago, when anti-rape activists claimed that a woman was raped every 22 seconds.

Nobody could ever explain how that figure was arrived at… other than to mumble vaguely about some alleged ratio of reported to unreported rapes.

None of the figures used by campaigners then could be backed up, so the alleged rape victim count has fluctuated wildly – and continues to do so.

The latest irritating ads are for LeadSA, which the Saturday Star is part of. They are radio ads being flighted on Primedia radio stations.

In one, a scene is sketched of young people on their way to a matric farewell – in tailored tux and rented limo. The punch- line: half of the people in your matric class will have been sexually abused by the time they turn 18.

Where does that figure come from? Or more correctly, which copywriter or campaign director sucked that out of his or her thumb?

I spent nearly an hour on Google trying to find evidence that remotely substantiated that claim.

The closest I came was the Ciet Africa study commissioned by the South African Human Rights Commission in 2002 which showed that 20 percent of female and 13 percent of male respondents under 18 reported suffering from some form of sexual violence.

Then there is another ad with a whole bunch of guys talking which makes the claim that one in three South African men is a rapist. Really? Where does that come from?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not for a moment under-playing the seriousness of sexual abuse and rape, nor am I a bitter misogynist (my wife of 27-plus years would tell me if I was, I’m sure).

But all this rubbishy overdramatised campaign does is to destroy credibility.

So, LeadSA, you get a billion Onions ( that number outrageous enough for you?). If you can prove me wrong, though – with facts and not polemic – I will publicly apologise.