Inconsistent comparison

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An inconsistent comparison is a misleading argument popular in advertising. For example, an advertisement might say "product X is less expensive than product A, has better quality than product B, and has more features than product C". This is designed to give the impression that product X is better than products A, B, and C in all respects, but doesn't actually make that claim.^[1] In fact, product A may be the most expensive, product B may be the lowest quality, and product C may have the fewest features of the three. So, the original statement really only means "product X is not the most expensive, lowest quality, or fewest featured product on the market". That would hardly be as effective of an advertisement, however.

See also[]

• Apples and oranges
• Incomplete comparison
• Fallacy
• False advertising

References[]