Data as proof

The pattern

This still is filed under Data as proof.

Define

A chart, map, or count that is the argument, not an illustration next to the argument.

Mechanism

Sighted evidence. The reader is asked to believe their eyes: a bar, a share, a spread on a map.

Verdict

The claim is comparative or quantitative and the figure can be read without a caption doing the sell.

Why it works

Before any prize, the second line answers the question of trust: licensed by the Egyptian government, guaranteed by the Alexandria municipality, and its income set aside to build the city's new stadium for the first African games. Then the page becomes a table, the full prize ladder from the top prize down to hundreds of small ones, followed by a stated chance of winning of 1 in 131. Tickets split into fifths sold at banks and every post office make the entry price small and the place to buy familiar.

The big idea

A lottery made respectable by its backers and its cause, a government licence, a municipal guarantee and a new Alexandria stadium, then proved fair by its printed prizes and odds.

The offer

Lottery tickets split into five parts at 20 piastres each, sold at the major banks and their branches and at every Egyptian post office. Top prize 5000 pounds.

The proof

Licensed by the Egyptian government, guaranteed by the Alexandria municipality, a full prize schedule from one 5000 pound prize to 400 prizes of 20 pounds, and stated odds of 1 in 131.

Lines from the ad

يانصيب

Lottery

مرخص به من الحكومة المصرية ومضمون من بلدية الاسكندرية

Licensed by the Egyptian government and guaranteed by the Alexandria municipality

أن نسبة النمر الرابحة هي ١ من ١٣١

The ratio of winning numbers is 1 in 131

Steal this when

Use it when people doubt the fairness of your offer and you can publish the full payout structure and the real odds.

The emotion

Written to Trust. It makes the Say move.

Puts the government licence and the Alexandria municipality's guarantee before any prize, prints the odds as 1 in 131, and splits tickets into fifths at 20 piastres sold at every post office.