$50,000,000 Mistake or “Why It Pays To Proofread”

Posted by Tony

August 16, 2007

Ok, far be it for me to slap someone when they are down. I can’t say that I have never made a mistake. I have missed typos in proofing. Things slip through the cracks.

It doesn’t happen often - but it can happen. And when it does I kiss as much butt as I can to make it right. A mistake is a mistake, but you have to own up to it.

But, Oh My God, I have never seen anything like this:

“An advertising promotion for a Roswell car dealership has backfired.A direct mailing of 50,000 scratch-off games touted a grand prize of $1,000.

The small type said the odds of winning were 1 in 50,000.But it turns out all 50,000 scratch-off ads were $1,000 winners.The dealership’s general manager, Jeff Kohn, blamed Atlanta-based Force Events Direct Marketing for printing the ads with a typographical error.

The dealership is offering $5 Wal-Mart gift cards to all participants.The marketing company, Force Events, sent representatives to Roswell Thursday. Force Events said they would give anyone who came to collect that day a chance to win $5,000 in a drawing.

The company would also hold another series of drawings where 20 people will win $1,000 a piece.”

Something like this not only damages the agency, but the client as well. Granted, the auto dealership will likely end up in the news. This might be ok for the dealership. They may even eek out a few extra sales. But, could your credit union survive something like this? The loss of credibility would be staggering. Not to mention the involvement with the lawsuits (and I have no doubt that there will be a few people who will not be satisfied with a $5 gift card to Wal-Mart).

I have received horrible copy from clients full of typos, grammar problems (thank God that Dick Krabbe is a grammar genius - I am not.) I have had clients send me copy with the wrong rates, disconnected paragraphs from a hatchet “copy and paste” job and so forth. In this industry, proofing is the #1 concern of a good agency. An extra zero or lack therof could be a major legal issue with a determined member.

Not to say I am perfect - but we haven’t made a $50,000,000 mistake in a ~~long time~~ ever!