The New Math or You Can Fool Some of the People a Lot of the Time

There is a TV ad on in the past few days for a sporting goods chain named Dick's which just points out how some people are not very good at math. The spiel is that if you spend $300 at Dick's they will give you a coupon good for $150 at any of their stores. This morning my son was telling us how he was going to Dick's to spend $300 and get that $150 in free money. I guess that is one way to look at it. Here is another.

I asked him if he would be as excited if they offered 20% off everything in the store. He said "No."
"How about 25% off?"
"Not really."

"30%?"

"No."
"40%?"

"You're getting close."

"Then why are you so excited by 33% off?"

"What do you mean? Dick's is offering 50% off."

So then I had to explain that spending $300 to buy $450 worth or merchandise is 33% off, not 50%. It took a while, but I think he finally got it.