This article in the New Scientist this week piqued my interest.

They reckon that humans are still better than computers at surmising what sort of lines in films are going to be memorable.

Phew.

A mixture of surprising words set in commonly recognised syntactical structures seems to be a winner.

But it struck me that this is quite akin to what we do in advertising.

Although I’d never want to make the art of memorable copy entirely transparent (would indeed that I could), it would certainly help when trying to explain why some lines are better than others to those who are less lexically dextrous.

Maybe we’d sell stuff in more easily with a common objective reference, or maybe we’d all go to advertising hell in a faster-than-usual handcart.

Yup, it’s back in the news again today. That all-too-convenient number of ’5 a day’ which has become part of our daily language.

Yet, according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) we Britons are only managing to eat 1 out of our recommended 5 portions of fruit’n'veg a day. You can read all about it here.

This is alleged to help prevent a range of cancers, most notably bowel cancer. In some cases the claim is that up to 50% of cancers can be prevented.

But it’s far from that simple. According to the ‘European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition’ - a 500,000 strong study – the reduction is more like 2.5%, and even then it’s impossible to rule out whether heavy veg-eaters just lead healthier lives in general.

Maybe that’s the issue here: 5-a-day vs. cancer just seems too simplistic, too implausible. In a world where complex drugs are heralded as the answer, this seems a bit, well, basic.

So if it’s that basic, maybe it’s all marketing spin and so it doesn’t really matter if I don’t make it to 5 today.

Or maybe I’ll have 2 today and then 8 tomorrow.

Or maybe the threat is just too far into the future for many people to care. After all, other food is much tastier and I won’t get any immediate payback.

Or maybe it’s just too logical and easy for my mind to dismiss. Science gets it wrong all the time, after all.

Whichever one it is, I’d argue that the ’5-a-day’ mantra has lost its initial shininess. It’s almost become a joke – indeed, I’ve nearly convinced myself that the lemon slice in my G&T has some kind of positive effect.

Just as there’s no single statistic that is going to change our habits, so there’s no single conclusion to this article. Sometimes issues are too nuanced or poorly understood for a simple statement to hold any power for long.