This weeks perspective from Bob Reid: Statistics Canada crunches numbers for a living. It’s the organization’s mandate to measure and analyze all manner of minutiae, to better inform Canadians. So it’s another day at the office for them to try and get media attention for the latest thing they’re giving us data about – and some days are easier than others. This week, they scored a huge communications Touchdown for a report on sugar consumption by Canadians. They equated the average person’s intake from all sources to 26 spoonfuls of sugar. 26 spoonfuls. We can instantly picture it, relate to it, comprehend exactly what that means – and, as a result, it’s a message that resonates. Newspaper art departments had a field day creating images of heaping spoonfuls and stacks of sugar cubes, and one TV reporter filled a clear plastic sports water bottle with the equivalent amount, winning expressions of disbelief from people on the street. Putting what can be complex numbers or research results into familiar, tangible terms that connect directly and immediately with those hearing the message is Touchdown-worthy material.
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