LSAT 159 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Last year a local advertising agency produced many of its television …

QUESTION TYPE: Paradox

PARADOX: The ads from this agency had improper sound and some viewers even complained. Still, businesses that used this agency had more sales than businesses who used other agencies.

ANALYSIS: You’d think that bad ads lead to bad sales. But in this case, it seems like the ads that had unsynchronized sound actually led to higher sales.

The first reason that comes to mind is that viewers found these ads more memorable so they remembered the dealerships better, or maybe they found it funny or quirky.

Another reason could be that the studio made their services cheaper because of this flaw, so businesses could run the ads more frequently or on more channels so it increased their exposure.

We just need something that explains why commercials with a technical flaw could actually lead to an advantage.

___________

1. If viewers muted the ads, the syncing issue wouldn’t matter. But this just removes the problem. It doesn’t help explain why those ads led to better sales.
2. CORRECT. This directly connects the sound issue to increased effectiveness. People were more likely to remember the dealership, so they were more likely to buy from it.
3. This just says a lot of the affected commercials were for car dealerships. But the argument already compares dealerships. It doesn’t help explain why those dealerships outperformed others.
4. So, some of the ads didn’t make the flaw obvious. That might slightly reduce the harm, but it doesn’t explain why using that agency’s ads was better than using others.
5. We’re not concerned with what most local dealerships did. We want to know why those who did use the flawed ads did better than those who used other agencies.