I know shitpost and all that but this isn't actually true, as in it can't be verified. It was one small mention in a book (Threshold Resistance) by A&W owner Mr. Taubman. He basically said he wanted to know why his same priced 1/3 burgers weren't outselling competing 1/4 pounders...from a competitor...that I'm sure you can guess. So, he hired a marketing firm who put together a little focus group in the 80s. Some of those focus group members supposedly didn't know that 1/3 lb. is bigger than 1/4 lb. burgers.

Keep in mind that there's no evidence or any firm mentioned and the bias surrounding the author that is writing a book about his experiences including a failed venture.

All we know is it is one man's anecdote and it has been used for 39 years so far to make fun of Americans for supposedly not understanding fractions.

[–] ImpossibilityBox@lemmy.world 79 points 8 months ago (5 children)

I work in a customer facing position in the US where factions of an inch are used for measurements frequently in the design of a product. I deal with people who don't know 5/8 is smaller than 3/4 or that 3/8 is smaller than 1/2 on literally a daily basis.

People are dumb and I absolutely believe the burger anecdote.

[–] match@pawb.social 25 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What if you just didn't use fractions of an inch

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Fractions of 3 barley corn just seems even more confusing...

[–] JargonWagon@lemmy.world 21 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I work with people who can't count on a daily basis - This doesn't mean that nobody can count, it just means that I get calls/emails where someone made a mistake and they need help correcting it. I get to see all of these instances occurring which creates a focus on it and in turn, a bias - if I only get calls/emails of people not being able to count, but no calls/emails about people not being able to spell, then the bias I have is that people suck at counting and are good at spelling.

My point is that there are plenty of people that do understand it, but the people that don't stand out and create a bias in your perspective.

[–] Liz@midwest.social 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Imagine getting a call:

"Hey), just calling to tell you everything went fine and I don't need any help. Bye!"

[–] JargonWagon@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Those are the best calls lol
"Hello- Oh, you know what, it's working now we figured it out, sorry. Have a good day!"

[–] valek879@sh.itjust.works 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You know I don't work with fractions of an inch on a daily basis... Or even monthly. But inevitably a couple times a year it's relevant. Every single time I have to take 3/4 multiply it by 2 and get 6/8, then I have to subtract 1/8 to get to 5/8. Repeat ad nauseum to get to whatever time fraction is needed.

It's frustrating and slow and makes me feel dumb.

That said last time I did it, I measured a 1/8th difference between cabinets we ordered from IKEA and the space they went in and I'll tell you what, I felt like a genius when it all just fit, perfectly.

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 3 points 8 months ago

Now imagine how good you'd feel if you used Roman numerals to do that

On a serious note, I once heard that an important reason maths was hard for Romans is because of a wrecked writing system. So maybe not using fractions other than fractions of 10 is the way to go

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Reminded of… Verizon Math (Piped)

[–] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 1 points 8 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

Verizon Math

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

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[–] Dieinahole@kbin.social 24 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Buddy.

JC Penny, some years ago, tried to change their pricing scheme, from the typical "$29.99 +tax" to flat "$30, tax included"

Their sales dropped so hard they reverted in two months.

Americans are born, bred, raised to be fucking stupid, and forcefully shoved into shitty educational systems that make them that stupid. The design of American cities is built for people to be stupid and isolated.

There's a reason other countries refer to the people that live in them as citizens, and we get branded as consumers.

There's a level of respect from the top down that is sorely lacking

[–] Kid_Thunder@kbin.social 19 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

It is a little more complicated than that. Yes consumers are trained to expect sales. It drives an increase in purchases. However, JC Penny is a sort of mid retailer. It isn't high-end and it can't support price competition to the bottom. Much like Kohls that basically lives on having things constantly "on sale" while all they really are doing is pricing below MSRP which is meaningless, especially when it is specifically designed to be underpriced.

They didn't simply make "$29.99 + tax" into "$30, tax included" but they removed MSRP markings that were higher than their 'sale' prices. They removed the ".99" from prices and generally lowered them to under the MSRP always though not necessarily down to their 'sale' prices to overall bring prices down everywhere.

It's "Everyday Pricing" initiative to lower overall pricing couldn't compete with stores specifically designed to keep prices down and it certainly didn't have the reputation of being upscale for any merchandise. Therefore, the only way to survive is to make consumers believe everything is on sale, always. Essentially fooling the customer into believing that they are getting a deal on better products for a cheaper price.

If someone wants to buy nice clothes, they will buy nice clothes and pay more for them. Underpricing them could actually hurt sales. If someone wants a 'deal' then they are going to go to low price competitors. Mid tier retailers are always going to have a tough problem to solve, unless you fool the consumer.

That marketing gimmick isn't centralized to just the US or even North America. It works anywhere in the world for a mid retailer.

Perhaps, you believe that this makes the consumers stupid but that would be a universal generalization rather than an US cultural one.

[–] Liz@midwest.social 4 points 8 months ago

I do love when people ascribe basic psychology to Americans and no one else. Only Americans walk into a room and forget why they went in there, everyone knows that!

[–] Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee 17 points 8 months ago

My father is a lawyer, and this happened with a judge, who agreed with him, but ended up saying something along the lines of “he deserves more than a third to have his fair share, so he’ll have a quarter”

[–] Klear@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago

this isn’t actually true, as in it can’t be verified

That's not how truth works. If it can't be verified, that means we don't know, not that it isn't true.