Red Herring
- “where does red herring come from”
- “is the red herring dog story true”
- “red herring vs macguffin”
- “red herring fallacy”
01 · Side by side
Side by side
Comparison sheet
| Aspect | Red herring | MacGuffin |
|---|---|---|
| Misleads | The audience | Nobody |
| Load-bearing | No | Yes |
| Matters in itself | Seems to | Doesn't |
| Removable | Yes | No |
| Drives the plot | No | Yes |
| Misleads audience | Yes | No |
| Can be removed | Yes | No |
| Characters care | Incidentally | Enormously |
02 · Which one you meant
Which one did you mean?
In shortReaders who land here meaning Red Herring rather than MacGuffin are usually searching for phrases like “where does red herring come from”, “is the red herring dog story true”, “red herring vs macguffin”.
MacGuffin
- “what is a macguffin”
- “macguffin vs red herring”
- “did hitchcock invent macguffin”
- “macguffin examples”
03 · Which came first
Which came first
In shortRed herring. 1807 — William Cobbett tells the hound-distracting story in his Political Register, popularising the figurative use — and possibly inventing the anecdote.
- 1807
Red Herring. William Cobbett tells the hound-distracting story in his Political Register, popularising the figurative use — and possibly inventing the anecdote.
- 1939
MacGuffin. Hitchcock explains the MacGuffin in a Columbia University lecture, using the Scottish train anecdote.
04 · The mix-up
Where the confusion comes from
The mix-up“A MacGuffin is a red herring.”
What's true
A MacGuffin motivates the characters and is structurally load-bearing — remove it and there's no plot. A red herring exists to mislead the audience and can be cut without consequence. They're near-opposites.
05 · Read either one