Distributed confusion
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Tweeted yesterday by the magazine Bon Appétit (which is apparently not the same as the restaurant management company):
The average millennial spends $96 billion on food. Here's how we break it down https://t.co/VoUan99Tbq pic.twitter.com/nYr7c2Yfan
— Bon Appétit (@bonappetit) September 18, 2017
Extensive commentary ensued —
I don't think that's how averages work. https://t.co/1ZuoA88J35
— Rachel Rogers (@Its__Rachel) September 18, 2017
— DON (@DONJVLIO) September 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/darth/status/909788615873511425
https://twitter.com/joe___nelson/status/909873028644900866
I am so stupid why did I spend all my billions on avocado I had so many billions https://t.co/EMzE4wxsI6
— Ellen Broad (@ellenbroad) September 18, 2017
David Morris said,
September 19, 2017 @ 8:07 am
If I was a millennial, I'd put aside the odd billion dollars for other things.
Jerry Friedman said,
September 19, 2017 @ 9:03 am
Maybe it's a typo for "billennial".
David L said,
September 19, 2017 @ 10:06 am
They also didn't specify a time period. $96 billion per month? Per week? Per day?
Scott said,
September 19, 2017 @ 10:17 am
It gets worse when you ask if that $96b is per day or per year or over a lifetime
Scott said,
September 19, 2017 @ 10:17 am
Oops, too slow; David L beat me to it
Asano Sokato said,
September 19, 2017 @ 10:59 am
Maybe "average millennial" is a collective noun and the study excludes exceptional millennials. Contrary to popular belief they're not all special.
Lance said,
September 19, 2017 @ 1:45 pm
What's really impressive is that if you click through to the actual "inofgraphic" (scare quotes deliberate), it's even dumber than the sentence they tweeted, as it's made up entirely of condescending stereotypes. But I'll take further conversation over to MillennialLog.
mg said,
September 19, 2017 @ 3:25 pm
If the average millennial is that rich, I guess they really don't need help paying for health care and student loans.
Thomas Lumley said,
September 19, 2017 @ 4:30 pm
In the story they do say it's for a year.
Which actually raises other questions, since that works out as only about $25/person/week.
(I wrote about it too: https://www.statschat.org.nz/2017/09/19/denominators-and-bignums/)
Thomas Lumley said,
September 19, 2017 @ 4:32 pm
Obviously, I mean it would be $25/person/week if it's the total (not the average as claimed)
richardelguru said,
September 20, 2017 @ 6:31 am
@ Thomas Lumley #2
Now that is being really, really careful about potential misunderstanding :-)
Martha said,
September 20, 2017 @ 9:28 am
I am a millennial and I do not understand why they're talking about sardines in that infographic.
Well, I don't understand why they've included a few of those things, to be honest, but I can make some guesses. Apparently, my friends and I have been spending our $96 billion allowance improperly.
CD said,
September 20, 2017 @ 10:32 am
Even by the low standards of the genre (which The Onion has satirized so well and often) it's a pretty cretinous infographic.