This statistic was so interesting I can’t resist repeating it. If you’re a fan of using myths vs. facts to tell your story about a cause or issue, you might want to think again. A recent study from the University of Michigan showed that more often than not, readers confused the information upon recall and the facts in the message were lost. Once this happens, it’s even more difficult to turn it around. In the study, volunteers read a brochure that listed myths and facts about a health issue. After 30 minutes, they misremembered 28 percent of the false statements as true. Three days later, this increased to 40 per cent. To make it worse repeating misinformation to clarify actually tended to backfire. This has implications particularly if you are using these kinds of messages as part of a long-term campaign.