Absolute Comparative
Rather than tell us exactly how good the product is, advertisers often use slogans like
- The smarter way to shop
- The powder that washes whiter
- Now 50% softer
- More "extreme."
These sound positive, but mean nothing. Smarter than what? How white does it wash? How are they measuring softness? Why do I want an "extreme" bathing sponge?
By omitting the standard they're comparing their product against, they've avoided making specific claims about their product and made comparisons with their competitors much harder than otherwise.
Compare Best Is Average, Better Is Best, where legally indistinguishable competitors are free to tout their claims to be "the best".
Examples of Absolute Comparative include:
Advertising
- Avis (car rental company): "We try harder". Originally this was not this trope -- the slogan began life as "We're #2, but we try harder", with the obvious comparison being with the #1 rental firm. When they stopped being #2, the slogan was adjusted accordingly and became an example.
- Bounty paper towels: "The Quicker Picker Upper"
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