8 Ways Companies Use Pseudoscience To Sell You Stuff

1. Using Dodgy Studies

"Women who aren't ready for cosmetic injections constantly ask me to recommend a skin cream that really works. So I was excited when this study, revealed at the World Congress of Dermatology, showed that pentapeptides are effective in reducing the appearance of lines and wrinkles."

This is a line from a banned Olay advert, delivered as beauty editor Eve Cameron pulls out a Very Official Looking Document that may as well have the heading "Proper Science, Honest" on it.

The ad was banned for purposefully exploiting poor public understanding of how scientific studies work, making unsubstantiated claims like they were facts and making it sound as though the scientific community supported the paper.

In fact, the study referenced actually found that the use of pentapeptides produced no significant results, and a second study actually contradicted a lot of the previous claims. Not exactly wow-material.

The thing is, anyone can carry out a study and, what's more, you can generally interpret data to say what you want if you try hard enough. Using small sample sizes, not using a control group and relying on self-reporting are all excellent ways of getting the results you're after.

If in doubt, just make it up and hope no one notices.