655,108 - The Value of Precise Numbers in Marketing

We tend to believe that authenticity is typically more associated with the information source rather than numbers or how we evaluate them, but precise numbers typically sound

  • more factual

  • well researched
  • authentic

even if they are not.
When you want to play down something, you

  • don''t focus on it

  • gather weak data
  • using research methods with favorable slippage
  • round in your favor
  • use rough estimates
  • IF you talk about it, use loose language

But since 2003, Johns Hopkins researchers estimate 655,000 Iraqis have died. Bush thinks it is closer to 30,000, but even that is a large number considering how our reason for invasion was fraudulently associating Saddam Hussein with September 11th events.

As Bush would say:

"One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." – President Bush's interview with CBS News' Katie Couric, Sept. 6, 2006

Even math is dependant upon marketing [PDF]. I am always perplexed when people say you shouldn't talk about politics on a marketing site. Politics is nothing but marketing. It is an ideological system of fraud and measures to bilk the world of its wealth and beauty for the profit of select power sources - at any expense necessary, and often without any connection to reality, or concern for the future.

From Carl Sandburg's The People, Yes

I pledge my allegiance,
say the munitions makers and the international bankers,
I pledge my allegiance to this flag, that flag,
any flag at all, of any country anywhere
paying its bills and meeting interest on loans,
one and indivisible,
coming through with cash in payment as stipulated
with liberty and justice for all,
say the munitions makers and the international bankers

"War is a racket always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
...
The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes even twelve per cent. But wartime profits-ah! that is another matter-twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent-the sky is the limit. All that the traffic will bear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it."

If Death Tax is such a big deal, then why don't politicians care about death itself?

Published: October 13, 2006 by Aaron Wall in marketing

Comments

Wake Up
October 19, 2006 - 9:17pm

infowars.com

April 6, 2007 - 10:32am

You have been exposed by Joe McCarthy's natural heir.

But I am offended that you are using Search Engine Optimization as a cover for espousing personal political opinions. And that is all they are. Opinions.

Search Engine Optimisation is great cover for infiltrators, wreckers, kulaks, reds, pinks, traitors and various other enemies of the people.

Thank you William for pulling back the curtain on Aaron Wall. For the sake of the nation, people should be sent to detain Mr. Wall and Carl Sandberg immediately for questioning. SEO is succor to terrorists and a weapon from within.

Thank heavens, habeas corpus has been suspended by the present administration and sedition can be dealt with sternly and without repercussion.

October 13, 2006 - 2:34pm

Aaron,

I would like to comment on the fact that you had some excellent quotes above, especially the one by Carl Sandburg. I also think that you were right on about politics and marketing being hand in hand. Very nice explaination.

October 13, 2006 - 3:00pm

You are wrong on the reason for attacking Iraq. It had to do with Saddam being a terroist himself and supporting terrorist. There was never anything said about him being responsible or related directly to 9/11. Get your facts right.

October 13, 2006 - 3:03pm

You spelled 'Husein' wrong. You can get the correct info here:
http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hussein.html

October 13, 2006 - 3:18pm

It had to do with Saddam being a terroist himself and supporting terrorist. There was never anything said about him being responsible or related directly to 9/11. Get your facts right.

I guess you didn't watch the documentary I did, where the father of one of the guys killed in a WTC attack had his son's name painted on a bomb which was dropped on Iraq. The bombs dropped that day missed their target and killed a bunch of Iraqi civilians.

As far as getting your facts straight, when people try to manipulate others it doesn't matter the exact words they use so much as their intent.

By relating 9/11 to terrorism and by relating Saddam to terrorism they did a good enough job that a father wanted to avenge his son's death by having his son's name painted on a bomb dropped on Iraq.

Watching him tear up talking about his son's death AND then seeing him talk about how wrong he felt for wanting that revenge was enough to disgust me enough with the current political environment to make me write this post, even knowing doing so would cost me many sales.

And as far as Saddam being a terrorist goes, we were the ones who sold him the gas that he used to gas his own people. And if you take selling him the supplies to do so and providing increased economic support while he was doing it as signs of support then the US was clearly in support of terrorism when Saddam was gassing his Kurdish population.

When Saddam was doing the gassing (linked to in the signature of the above comment) we actively supported him with the necessary supplies and economic resources to do it.

October 13, 2006 - 3:18pm

Chris,

I think what Aaron was trying to say about the reason for invading Iraq was not that Saddam was responsible or related directly to 9/11. Aaron was just saying that Saddam was marketed as being associated with 9/11 in the publics eye in an indirect way (Saddam remaining in power would lead to more harboring of terrorists, who were responsible for 9/11). Correct me if I am wrong, Aaron.

October 13, 2006 - 4:28pm

Kudos on the great post, Aaron. I for one enjoy your political observations, and I don't have any problem at all mixing my SEO with politics. I'm literally astounded that there are so many Bush apologists. I would think when we finally admitted that we weren't ever going to find these weapson of mass destruction that everyone would be mad as hell, but no one seems to mind. Whether the cost in lives was 655,000, or 30,000, it was definitely too high, and it's going to get higher before it's all over.

October 13, 2006 - 6:51pm

great post aaron. you're spot on, politics is essentially marketing. something like 50% of Americans still believe Saddam was behind 9/11. Why do they think this? Is it just a collective coincidence? Hardly. What I find astounding about right-wing pundits is their tendency to discredit the person who is speaking about the staggering corruption/deaths in this war, rather than speak to the facts themselves. and depressingly, at the end of the day, what's easier to remember by the general public? the sophisticated methods of data collection that revealed the enormous death toll? or the belief that anyone anti-war must be anti-american?

William
October 13, 2006 - 10:31pm

Aaron:

I agree with your observation that specific numbers have more verisimilitude than round numbers, even if both are unfounded estimates.

I know you flagged this posting as "political" and that is fair enough.

But I am offended that you are using Search Engine Optimization as a cover for espousing personal political opinions. And that is all they are. Opinions.

I eagerly await your next posting, in which you will assert that 9/11 was an inside job but, even if it wasn't, we deserved it because we are such bad actors on the international stage, and such selfish consumers of the planet's resources.

Nuts!

October 13, 2006 - 10:36pm

I really didn't express much opinion in the above post. Mostly it was quoting others and stating facts.

The only area of the post that could be construed as opinion would be the part where I was somewhat dismissive of the field of politics.

The fraud mention in the post was both blatent and a fact.

George
October 13, 2006 - 11:39pm

I remember when i saw Pr. Bush say that Iraq=Al Kaida=Bin Ladden=9/11. I could not believe that the American people would fall for that. The UN after the inspectors found NOTHING was just watching .I was shocked that the White House used this event as an opportunity for starting a war for oil. Next in the agenda was North Korea but.. they entered the nuke club a few days ago-safe and sound-. As i can understand the average american -correct me if i am wrong- considers arabs=terrorists.

Ancient History has a clear message for all great empires. Eventualy they ....

A friend from Greece

PS. Arron i hope i have not offended your readers

October 14, 2006 - 9:16am

73.62% of statistics are made up on the spot.

October 14, 2006 - 9:37pm

"But since 2003, Johns Hopkins researchers estimate 655,000 Iraqis have died. Bush thinks it is closer to 30,000, but even that is a large number considering how our reason for invasion was fraudulently associating Saddam Hussein with September 11th events."

Perfect example of your first point. You know that Bush has explicitly stated that Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, but you slide this remark in.

You also make no note of homw many of those Iraqis killed were enemy combatants and Iraqis killed by Iraqi terrorists.

I don't think you could have presented a better example of your point.

"The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes even twelve per cent. But wartime profits-ah! that is another matter-twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent-the sky is the limit. All that the traffic will bear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it."

Yeah, government has zero spending discipline whatsoever. Non military companies that rely on the govt for their support make similar margins. Governmet agencies designed to "help people" have similar numbers. Only a small percentage of that money actually helps anyone, the rest is siphoned of by whoever can put themselves in that money stream.

Profits? Sure. And the normal profits of an Internet Marketer, who knows what he's doing, is...? I'd say a minimum of 100%, if it's adwords, and far higher than that for ebook & digital product publishers. In either case it's way beyond the reaonable profit level that people expect (which seems to be in negative numbers...)

Politicians care alot about death. Some of them would rather your name wasn't added to the kill list of a terrorist. Some people believe that the terrorist threat is just a Jedi Mind Trick.

Another note off one of the comments. People love to make note of how much aid the US provided Iraq for this and that awful thing. Keep in mind that Soviet aid was about 100x as much. Why is that never mentioned?

And I'm astounded at how many terrorist apologists there are out there.

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